US missile stockpile likely unable to handle prolonged war as Iran adapts to defenses: experts

The US likely does not have enough munitions to sustain a prolonged all-out war with Iran — which is already adapting to bypass America’s defense systems in its attacks across the region, an expert told The Post.While the Trump administration is reportedly considering a “wider war” against Iran, the US’s ability to engage in such a campaign could be undermined by America’s shrinking stockpiles of air defense and long-range missiles, according to Katherine Thompson, a senior fellow in defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute.“Time is the main factor here.If this goes on for weeks and then we settle into a cease-fire, it could be fine,” she said.

“But I don’t think our munitions are in a great place if this lasts another year or two.”Saturday’s deadly strike by Tehran that killed two US soldiers underscored America’s already existing logistical challenges in protecting its roungly 50,000 troops stationed in the region, the expert said.“The attacks make it clear that the size of our presence in the Middle East has become more of a liability … and it shows the effect on our stockpiles used to protect that presence, as retaliatory attacks are still coming at an alarming rate,” she said.Analysts have warned for months that the US has already burned through its stockpile of interceptor and attack missiles during its war with Iran and through military aid provided to Ukraine in previous years.Before the Iranian ar reignited this month, the US had already used up more than 3,000 Tomahawk, Patriot and JASSM missiles against Iran, according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.The US has also burned through hundreds of its other advanced weapons, including the THAAD system, with much of America’s inventory not expected to return to pre-war levels until the end of the decade, according to the CSIS.Thompson noted that the bulk of the US missiles used so far in the Iran war were launc...