US Military Faces Global Readiness Gaps Due to Middle East Conflict

The US war with Iran is creating a military dilemma that extends far beyond the Middle East, with the heavy use of American missiles and air-defence interceptors raising concerns over Washington’s ability to deter or respond to potential threats from China and Russia. US military planners are increasingly worried that weapons consumed or shifted to the Middle East have left critical gaps in America’s wider global defence posture.

The shortages are particularly acute in Europe, where US inventories of PAC-3 Patriot air-defence interceptors and ATACMS surface-to-surface missiles have fallen to what officials described as “beyond critical” levels. Other weapons, including precision-strike missiles, guided rockets and THAAD interceptors, have also been drawn down or moved from Europe to the Middle East, forcing the US European Command to adjust its operational plans.

The Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials, that by mid-July the US had expended about 1,700 Patriot air-defence interceptors and more than 200 THAAD antimissile interceptors, while US Navy ships had fired another 150 Standard Missile interceptors against Iranian missiles and drones. Iran, meanwhile, had fired more than 1,500 ballistic missiles and 6,000 large drones during the war.

The depletion is not limited to weapons already used in combat. The US has also moved air-defence units from Europe and the Pacific to the Middle East to protect American forces and key infrastructure from Iranian attacks. These deployments have been extended, placing additional strain on the Pentagon’s ability to respond quickly to a future crisis elsewhere.

The implications are particularly significant for Taiwan. The shrinking inventories have increasingly led US administration officials to assess that Washington may not be able to fully execute its existing contingency plans to defend Taiwan against a Chinese invasion if such a crisis were to occur in the near term, according to The Wall Street Journal report. The strain is also complicating the US military’s ability to support Ukraine. Western stocks of air-defence interceptors are already under pressure, limiting the ability to provide additional systems to Kyiv as Russia continues missile attacks.

At the same time, US allies are facing delays in receiving munitions they have purchased from Washington, adding to concerns about the broader capacity of the Western defence-industrial base. The pressure is also exposing a problem with replacing advanced weapons. The Wall Street Journal reported that rebuilding stocks moved from Japan, South Korea and Germany could take years, potentially leaving gaps in US military readiness.