US Department of Defense admits ammunition shortage

An independent monitoring body of the US Department of Defense has admitted for the first time that there is a shortage of ammunition as a result of the Iran war. In some cases there are “strategic inventory gaps and bottlenecks” in the supply of ammunition, according to a mandatory report to Congress. However, details about the weapon systems affected are not given.

In response, the Pentagon is working to “streamline procurement processes and production lead times,” the report continued. However, expanding production capacity requires “significant lead times”.

The report also lists costs, losses and damage caused by the Iran war. According to this, costs of 33.4 billion US dollars (the equivalent of around 28.95 billion euros) were incurred in the first four months of operation alone, of which 22.3 billion dollars (19.33 billion euros) were for ammunition alone. By the end of June, the deaths of seven soldiers in action and seven others during the operation, which were not directly attributable to enemy actions, were also confirmed.

The Pentagon's Inspector General also reports that "hundreds of buildings and structures" at US military bases in the region have been damaged or destroyed by Iranian attacks. This was not taken into account when calculating the costs because it was unclear whether all the buildings would be rebuilt.

Report contradicts statements by US President Trump

Previously, President Donald Trump had repeatedly brushed aside concerns about a shortage of ammunition in the Iran war and spoke of "virtually unlimited" US military supplies.

Just on Monday he wrote on his Truth Social platform that the USA is producing more weapons than ever before in history. The Pentagon has also vehemently denied reports of a shortage.