The war that the United States has been waging against Iran since February has consumed around two-thirds of the American stockpile of Patriot anti-aircraft interceptors and brought reserves of other precision missiles to “extremely low levels,” according to a survey by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington think tank.
CSIS estimates that there are fewer than 830 Patriot interceptors left in US stockpiles, compared to a pre-war total estimated at around 2,200 units of the two most modern variants. The reserves of the THAAD system, the highest-altitude ballistic missile interceptor, would have practically halved.
To sustain the campaign, the Pentagon hastily moved ships, aircraft and air defense units from Europe and Asia to the Middle East. The impact tends to be greater in Asia. The Indo-Pacific Command of US forces has become one of the main sources of ammunition for the war, providing Tomahawk missiles and other long-range weapons considered essential for a conflict scenario with China around Taiwan. According to CSIS, the ships sent to the Middle East will return to the Pacific when the operation ends, but restocking them will take years.
The emptying also spills over to allies. The drop in the global supply of Patriot leaves fewer interceptors for Ukraine: President Volodimir Zelensky stated that allied countries supplied Kiev, in 2026, with about a third of the volume delivered in the same period of the previous year. An order for 400 Tomahawk missiles placed by Japan with Raytheon also did not go ahead.
Each Patriot missile costs millions of dollars and can take three to five years to produce. At the current rate, the Pentagon receives around 20 new Patriots and 15 Tomahawks per month, and there are no THAAD deliveries scheduled for 2026. To expand production, the Army this week signed a contract worth up to US$58.6 billion with Lockheed Martin, valid until 2032.
The government minimizes the problem. The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, contested in X reports that indicated a depletion of 80% of THAAD interceptors, classifying the number as “not true” and writing “shame on you” to the authors. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell stated that the US Force “is the most powerful in the world and has everything it needs to execute at the time and place chosen by the president”.
The war began on February 28, when joint attacks by the United States and Israel killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as other officials and civilians. A Pakistan-brokered ceasefire halted large-scale fighting in April, but the truce collapsed in July, and no lasting agreement was reached.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
