Donald Trump has denied reports that the US is running low on critical weapons systems as a result of the war with Iran – but nations around the world are struggling to protect their skies as air defence interceptor stocks run down.
The US military has largely exhausted stockpiles of advanced long-range munitions such as the ATACMS and Precision Strike Missiles, The New York Times reported on Sunday, citing senior US officials.
Stocks of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) air defence interceptors have been reduced by up to 80 per cent, CNN reported this week. Military commanders told the US network that supplies were “dangerously low”.
The Pentagon has also burned through two thirds of Patriot air defence missiles, according to analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
The think tank described Operation Epic Fury – the military campaign against Iran – as Washington’s “most munitions-intensive military campaign in decades.”
