United States depletes advanced missile stockpiles amid strikes on Iran‑backed groups in Iraq

The United States has fired over 1,000 Tomahawk missiles and around 1,430 Patriot systems in its recent conflict with Iran, consuming a large share of its most sophisticated ammunition. Experts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies say it can take one to five years to produce each missile, and the Tomahawk inventory may not recover to pre‑war levels until about 2031. Defense officials have asked Congress for an additional $87 billion to address what they describe as critical shortages.

At the same time, U.S. forces, together with Saudi Arabia, have carried out precision strikes in eastern Iraq against Iran‑backed militia groups, downing Iranian drones and targeting weapons caches. The attacks were presented as retaliation for more than 30 drone assaults attributed to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Iranian militia leaders claim casualties among their fighters. Both the depletion of U.S. advanced weapons and the ongoing strikes raise concerns about U.S. deterrence capability in other regions, including Ukraine and the Pacific, where the United States supplies high‑end air‑defence systems.