Despite ongoing US and Israeli air strikes, Iran has launched nearly 1,200 ballistic missiles and 4,000 primitive Shahed cruise missiles at Gulf states since the start of the war, according to those countries’ official reports, which are not comprehensive.Ballistic missile defense calls for at least two firings at each target, taking into account the shoot-to-fire principle, where the crew fires twice and then checks the result. This means that at least 2,400 interceptor missiles were launched over the course of the war, and perhaps more, because sometimes additional missiles are needed to defend against incoming projectiles. The vast majority were Patriot PAC-3 and GEM-T missiles, of which the Gulf states had fewer than 2,800 before the war, based on U.S. foreign military sales authorizations and estimates from three experts and a person familiar with the matter.The US Department of Defense said that it has all the ammunition necessary to accomplish its tasks. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) documents show the number of missiles ordered or authorized, but fewer may have been delivered. While Lockheed Martin makes about 650 PAC-3 interceptors a year, the company signed an agreement in January to manufacture 2,000 missiles a year by 2030. The company also makes 96 THAAD interceptors a year, but has reached a separate agreement to increase that number to 400.
The United States also launched hundreds of Tomahawk missiles worth $2 million and more than 1,000 of the top-secret JASSM missiles worth $1.5 million, according to a person familiar with the matter, who did not want to be identified. Although many strikes have switched to cheaper Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAM, cruise missiles are still used heavily because parts of Iranian airspace remain too risky for close-in operations.There were about 4,000 Tomahawk missiles in the U.S. prewar inventory, and RTX Corp.
Produces about 100 each year; Lockheed could build at least 860 JASSMs this year, according to government documents. Both missiles are designed for long-distance flight. These types of weapons are essential to the conflict against an advanced adversary like China.“Allowing the attrition of advanced weapons suggests the United States believes it will not need to fight China or can achieve victory quickly,” said Peter Layton, a former Royal Australian Air Force officer and visiting fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute.
“It is strategically interesting because it suggests that the Trump administration sees Iran as the most important issue and is willing to bet the farm on its destruction.”The munitions depletion has alarmed US allies around the world, as weapons systems and munitions have been withdrawn to support the campaign against Iran. The Pentagon is considering diverting arms shipments intended for Ukraine to the Gulf region, according to The Washington Post.
These supplies include interceptor missiles.Officials in Germany and France, two of the continent’s most powerful militaries, say they see signs of tension in the supply of some weapons. “Prolonged American involvement in the war in Iran would put significant pressure on the US military stockpile,” said Thomas Ehrendl, defense policy spokesman for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
