An American report warns of a decline in weapons stocks due to the confrontation with Iran

The magazine said in its report: “The American army has become weaker and more vulnerable in recent years due to a number of accumulated problems. The ongoing war on Iran has revealed defects and weaknesses in the American ammunition supply chains, and led to the exhaustion of available stocks of interceptor missiles. Meanwhile, problems with personnel recruitment may limit the ability of the United States to carry out its operations effectively in Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific region.”

In a related context, in early August, the New York Times quoted high-level officials and experts as warnings that the firepower of the United States in Europe and Asia had declined against the backdrop of the conflict with Iran, indicating that the depletion of weapons stocks also reflected negatively on public morale within the ranks of the army.

Three sources familiar with recent data from the Pentagon, in addition to a report issued by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), revealed that US weapons stocks - including vital air defense missiles - are suffering from a severe shortage following the major escalation in the confrontation with Iran in recent weeks.

According to the report of the prestigious research center, the current American stockpiles contain less than 827 Patriot interceptor missiles, and less than 278 THAAD ballistic missile interceptors.

The center reported that these systems were mainly used to confront attacks by Iranian drones, with a relatively low cost compared to the price of a single missile, which amounts to millions of dollars.

These numbers reflect a significant depletion of the stock that was available before the war, as the center estimated that stock at about 2,200 “Patriot” missiles from the two latest models of the system, and 452 “THAAD” missiles, which means that the United States lost more than half of its stock of advanced “Patriot” missiles in a relatively short period of time.

The Patriot and THAAD systems are the US military's main means of intercepting and destroying incoming enemy ballistic missiles, but the high cost of a single interceptor missile - amounting to millions of dollars - makes it a very expensive solution when used against cheap drones, which constitutes an unequal economic equation that is rapidly depleting American resources.