The United States military may have created a “near-term risk” of running out of key missiles after depleting a significant amount of ammunition during Operation Epic Fury against Iran, according to a Wednesday CNN News report citing experts and individuals familiar with recent US Defense Department stockpile assessments.
According to an analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), it may take three to five years to fully replenish the stockpile to pre-war levels, despite the Pentagon's recent signing of a series of contracts to expand missile production.
Since the war began on February 28, the US has expended at least half of its inventory of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missiles, almost half of its Patriot air defense missiles, and at least 45% of its stockpile of Precision Strike Missiles, CSIS assessed.
Aproximately 30% of the US’s Tomahawk missiles, more than of the stockpiled Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles, and around 20% of SM-3 and SM-6 missiles were also used, according to the analysis and CNN’s sources.
CNN sources familiar with classified Pentagon data on ammunition stockpiles stated that CSIS’s numbers closely match the Pentagon’s.
Stockpiles sufficient for continued Iran operations
While the remaining stockpiles are likely sufficient to resume operations against Iran, they may not be enough to combat any other adversaries like China, according to CSIS’s analysis.
Mark Cancian, a retired US Marine Corps Colonel and one of the authors of the CSIS analysis, told CNN that the depletion of the key ammunition has “created a window of increased vulnerability in the western Pacific.”
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell denied that the reduction in stockpile posed a threat. In a statement to CNN, Parnell asserted that the US military “has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the President’s choosing.”
“We have executed multiple successful operations across combatant commands while ensuring the US military possesses a deep arsenal of capabilities to protect our people and our interests,” Parnell continued.
