No. of Recommendations: 8
Reportedly, the US and it's allies have an inventory of multi-million dollar interceptor missiles in the mid 4 figures. Iran has an inventory of cheap, propeller driven drones of between 80,000 and 100,000. Who is going to run out of ammo first?
If the allies run out of ammo, then it doesn't matter if the US insures all the ships, because the oil loading terminals and tank farms, fixed targets, easy to hit, could be droned into rubble.
last year:
US missile depletion from Houthi, Israel conflicts may shock you
Historic levels of air defense missiles were expended by U.S. Navy ships in the Middle East in defense of Israel and in protection of Red Sea shipping since October of 2023. This led Admiral James Kilby, Naval Operations acting chief, to testify in June that their ship-launched air defense interceptors — SM-3s — are being expended at an “alarming rate” in defense of Israel.
Adding in the missiles we know were used to defend Israel in 2024 gives us an estimate of 100 SM-2s, 142 SM-3s and 168 SM-6s used to defend Israel since October 7, 2023.
Combining the numbers with the above estimates for the Red Sea conflict through June 2025, we can estimate a grand total of 268 SM-2s, 159 SM-3s, and 280 SM-6s used in the Middle East from October of 2023 through the end of June 2025.https://responsiblestatecraft.org/missile-depletio...So Navy inventory was already depleted, before this latest adventure started. There are inventory and production estimates in the linked article.
How about the land based, latest science?
US said to have used some 25% of its THAAD interceptor missiles to protect Israel during Iran war
The United States used up about a quarter of its high-end THAAD interceptor missiles to help down missiles Iran launched at Israel during last month’s 12-day war, according to two sources familiar with the operation cited by CNN.
According to the report, US forces fired between 100 and 150 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense rockets, each of which costs roughly $12.7 million.
Meanwhile, the US produced just 11 THAAD interceptor rockets last year and is expected to produce 12 this year, CNN says.https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/us-sa...No wonder Trump the Magnificent and Manly, blustered that the US could keep up this war indefinitely. We already blew off a big chunk of inventory, more than were being produced, protecting Israel over the last couple years.
Steve
