CBS reported early Wednesday, citing unnamed sources, that the United States has used nearly all of its long-range missile stockpile during the war against Iran. The report describes the scale of munitions expenditure as 'exceptional' and warns it could affect US strategic weapons reserves. The report follows assessments of depletion of US Army ATACMS, PrSM, and interceptor missiles.
CBS reported early Wednesday morning, citing unnamed sources, that the United States has used nearly all of its long-range missile stockpile during the war against Iran. The report describes the scale of munitions expenditure as "exceptional" and warns the depletion could affect US strategic weapons reserves. The report adds a new layer to a growing picture of US missile stockpile strain.
The thread began Tuesday afternoon, when Reuters reported at 13:02 Jerusalem that the US military had used "most of its long-range missile stockpiles." Later Tuesday, at 21:26 Jerusalem, a new assessment confirmed the near-depletion of ATACMS and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM), as reported by The Zioneer. By early Wednesday, at 00:26 Jerusalem, an additional report indicated the US Army had used approximately 80% of its primary missile interceptors. The CBS report now broadens the claim to the entire long-range missile inventory.
The munitions consumption reflects the intensity of the US air campaign against Iran since the conflict escalated. As The Zioneer reported on July 11, the US prepared for a large-scale strike involving over 1,000 Tomahawk missiles over the Strait of Hormuz closure. President Trump stated in June that Iran retains only 22% of its pre-conflict missile stockpile. Open-source intelligence assessments, reported by The Zioneer on July 24, warned that precision-guided munitions depletion could take 1–4 years to rebuild to prewar levels, posing risks to deterrence in other theaters.
The Pentagon has not confirmed the extent of munitions expenditure. The classified nature of stockpile data has been invoked by those questioning the accuracy of such reports, and the CBS account, like earlier reports, is based on unnamed sources. The precise scale of remaining US strategic reserves remains unverified.
4 developments
Source and signal
- Open-source intake