US at risk of running out of missiles if another war breaks out after depleting stockpile in Iran operations

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNN Politics

Updated Apr 21, 2026, 1:02 PM ET
PUBLISHED Apr 21, 2026, 1:00 PM ET


The US military has significantly depleted its stockpile of key missiles during the war with Iran and created a “near-term risk” of running out of ammunition in a future conflict should one arise in the next few years, according to experts and three people familiar with recent internal Defense Department stockpile assessments.

Over the last seven weeks of war, the US military has expended at least 45% of its stockpile of Precision Strike Missiles; at least half of its inventory of THAAD missiles, which are designed to intercept ballistic missiles; and nearly 50% of its stockpile of Patriot air defense interceptor missiles, according to a new analysis conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Those numbers closely align with classified Pentagon data about US stockpiles, according to the sources familiar with the assessment.

Earlier this year the Pentagon signed a series of contracts that would help expand missile production, but the delivery timeline to replace these systems is three to five years even with the increased capacity, the CSIS experts and the sources said.

In the short term, the US likely maintains enough bombs and missiles to continue combat operations against Iran, in any scenario, should the shaky ceasefire fail to hold. But the number of critical munitions remaining in US stockpiles is no longer sufficient to confront a near-peer adversary, like China, and it will likely take years before the inventory of those weapons returns to pre-war levels, the CSIS analysis concludes.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/21/politics/us-military-missile-stockpile

[Prairie Gates]

1. Can't funnel government dollars to your contributors and favored districts if the stockpile is full

[Lovie777]

2. Are you effing kidding me...........................

[2naSalit]

3. I think...

There's also the intent to force the US into vulnerable positions.

[SamKnause]

4. If only they had a larger budget.

The fuckers haven't passed an audit for years.

Corruption and thief of tax dollars is what they are good at.

[Scalded Nun]

5. This is such bullshit, and it is not isolated to one president

Decades of burgeoning and bloated defense budgets. Trillions upon trillions of taxpayer dollars going into the pockets of politicians, foreign governments (see Israel), defense contractors, defense builders, militia contractors (easier to just say the entire fucking military industrial complex). Never any money for the needs of our citizens, even to the point of taking money away from citizens to pay for even more military crap. Now looking for an extra $500B for what, to 'resupply' an arsenal that seems to have been depleted in less than a month while strong-arming a basically third-world country?

Where did all that money go? Not into arms/ammunition/etc., not into food for deployed troops (it is reported that many in the middle east are not getting food rations).

Decades and decades of irresponsible spending without any true oversight (when was the last time the DoD passed an audit?), and every fucking time someone in Washington raises the issue of oversight and control the DoD rolls out the scare-mobile. 'Our enemies, woe is us and the country if we lose even a dollar'. BULLSHIT! They cry like babies, not unlike the GOPs 'But her emails' whining every time they are backed into a corner.

I'd really like to see someone actually explain truthfully (a big ask!) that 4 weeks into a conflict (of our choosing) with a much smaller, much less sophisticated military we do not have the resources required to win.

I'd also hate to see if we had to actually go into a conflict with a formidable foe (or foes) since the argument is also always made that we have to be able to fight and win simultaneously on 2 fronts.