The US Army has used “virtually all” of its stockpile of two key long-range precision missile systems during Washington’s five-month war against Iran, raising serious questions about the country’s readiness for another major conflict, Reuters has reported.
Citing three people familiar with internal military data, the report said the US has exhausted most of its Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM), surface-to-surface weapons that allow forces to strike targets accurately from a considerable distance.
Two of the sources described the remaining stockpile of the weapons as virtually depleted, although they declined to disclose the number of missiles still available.
The disclosure highlighted the scale at which the US has consumed some of its most advanced and expensive weapons since President Donald Trump launched the war jointly with Israel in February, predicting that the confrontation would be brief. The conflict has instead continued for five months, placing sustained pressure on US military supplies.
It’s though that the rapid depletion will force Trump to rely more heavily on piloted aircraft and shorter-range bombs if he orders another large-scale offensive against Iran. Such operations would expose US pilots and aircraft to greater danger, particularly when attacking targets protected by sophisticated air-defence systems.
