Washington — The Trump administration is facing significant concerns over the rapid consumption of advanced air-defense interceptors and precision-guided weapons in the Middle East as tensions with Iran escalate, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials familiar with internal assessments.

Officials told CBS News that the current pace of munitions use in the campaign against Iran is unsustainable. The U.S. defense industrial base lacks the capacity to quickly replenish missiles fired or transferred to U.S. Central Command, which oversees the conflict. This depletion is also raising broader worries about America's preparedness for potential conflicts in the Indo-Pacific region.

A 2026 report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies highlighted that during a ceasefire pause, over 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles and 1,100 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSMs) were expended, with replacement timelines nearing four years. Air-defense interceptors are under even greater strain, as significant shares of prewar inventories of THAAD, SM-3 missiles, and Patriot systems have been used.

In 2022, Elbridge Colby, now the Pentagon's undersecretary for policy and a former defense official under Trump, summarized the strategic challenge: "A missile used in Europe can't be used in Asia," emphasizing the global stretch of U.S. military resources.

The Biden administration previously delayed supplying ATACMS missiles to Ukraine partly due to concerns that drawing from existing inventories could undermine U.S. military readiness.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denied that the situation constitutes a crisis, acknowledging that some munitions take longer to produce but stating, "Our stockpiles are strong, and they will only get stronger in the future." He added, "I think it will take one to two years for them to scale," referring to production capacity, and expressed confidence that munitions are being used judiciously despite finite limits.

Sources