00:22Has the Iran war pushed America's precision missile arsenal to the breaking point?
00:28A new Reuters report is drawing attention to the strain the prolonged Iran conflict has placed on the U.S.
00:36military's stockpile of precision-guided weapons.
00:39According to Reuters, citing three people familiar with internal U.S. data, the Army has used a substantial portion of
00:47its long-range precision missiles during the conflict.
00:50The report says the United States has expended, quote, virtually all of its available ATACMS and precision-strike missiles, or
01:00PRSM, although exact inventory figures remain classified.
01:05The report also says that nearly half of the global stockpile of Tomahawk cruise missiles has been used.
01:11In addition, estimates cited by Reuters indicate that Patriot interceptor stocks have fallen by around 65%, while THAAD interceptor inventories
01:22are estimated to be at least 38% lower than they were at the start of the conflict.
01:27These figures have not been independently verified, because official U.S. inventory numbers remain classified.
01:36However, Reuters reports that multiple sources said the estimates broadly match internal Pentagon data.
01:42According to the report, U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, has already consumed much of the land-based missile inventory
01:50it had available at the start of the conflict.
01:53To maintain operations, the command has reportedly been replenished by drawing weapons from U.S. stockpiles located around the world.
02:02The report also highlights a major concern for military planners – production.
02:07Advanced missiles such as the Tomahawk, ATACMS, PRSM, Patriot, and THAAD require sophisticated manufacturing and cannot be replaced overnight.
02:19Analysts say rebuilding inventories of some of these systems could take years even with increased production.
02:26The depletion of these high-end precision weapons has sparked debate over whether the United States would have sufficient reserves
02:34if another major military crisis were to emerge, particularly in the Indo-Pacific or Europe.
02:41However, U.S. officials insist America's military remains fully prepared.
02:47President Donald Trump said the United States possesses far more munitions than any other country, and emphasized that defense manufacturers
02:56are rapidly expanding production capacity.
02:59The Pentagon also dismissed concerns about readiness, stating that the U.S. military has everything it needs to execute operations
03:08whenever and wherever directed by the president, and continues to maintain a deep arsenal of military capabilities.
03:15Defense analysts note that while specific missile inventories may be under pressure, the United States still maintains extensive military resources,
03:26including other categories of precision-guided weapons, strategic bombers, naval strike capabilities, and expanding production lines.
03:34Because the exact numbers remain classified, the full scale of the reported depletion cannot be independently confirmed, but the Reuters
03:44report has renewed discussion about the challenges of sustaining a prolonged high-intensity conflict while maintaining readiness for potential crises
03:53elsewhere.
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