Amid growing concerns that the Iran war is drawing away critical U.S.defenses from China's doorstep, the Army's top commander in the Pacific says the forces are using this unexpected opportunity to modernize.Gen.
Ronald Clark, commander of U.S.Army Pacific, provided his assessment that diverting Patriot missile defenses to the Iran war has not increased risk to forces in the Indo-Pacific despite concerns about deployments impacting America's readiness for potential conflict with China."Actually, it's given us an opportunity to modernize our systems here," Clark told Fox News Digital during a small-group interview at the Association of the United States Army's annual conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.Patriot systems have been redeployed from the Indo-Pacific to support operations in the Middle East, while U.S.
forces in South Korea have also sent Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors to the region.U.S.Army Gen.
Ronald Clark, commanding general of U.S.Army Pacific, speaks with NSS guests during National Security Seminar Week at the U.S.
Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., June 4, 2026.(Elizabeth Bukowski/US Army War College)An October Congressional Research Service report cited estimates that U.S.
forces had expended roughly 1,700 Patriot and 200 THAAD interceptors during the conflict, while the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the military had used between half and two-thirds of certain interceptor inventories.The Pentagon's inspector general has cited strategic inventory shortfalls and manufacturing bottlenecks stemming from the conflict, raising questions about how quickly the U.S.
could replenish its defenses in the event of another major confrontation.Clark said the deployments are giving Patriot crews firsthand experience defending against enemy attacks, while equipment upgrades are expanding what individual batteries can accomplish.He said an upgraded Patriot battery can now provide coverage that previously required an...