The US has burned through more than 200 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors in its war with Iran.
Ronny Reyes – New York Post July 20, 2026
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 roughly 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 war 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 launched during the first six days of Operation Epic Fury, with the Trump administration initially confident that it had degraded Iran’s missile systems to the point that America’s minimized stockpiles could handle retaliatory attacks.
“But as it turns out, Iran still has access to its missiles and drones,” she said. “[Iran’s] retaliatory attacks won’t be as big as [Tehran’s response] was during those initial days of the war, but they’ve shown the ability to keep attacking.”
But US defense officials maintain that American is well-armed and ready to meet the demands of a prolonged war.
“We have executed multiple successful operations across combatant commands while ensuring the U.S. military possesses a deep arsenal of capabilities to protect our people and our interests.” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
A Pentagon official added to The Post, “The Department of War is committed to rapidly expanding the defense industrial base by leveraging all available commercial solutions and technologies to ensure our warfighters maintain a decisive advantage.
“The department is aggressively pursuing and integrating the best of American innovation, wherever it resides, to deliver production at scale and drive resiliency across supply chains.”
While the CSIS estimated that the US likely has enough munitions for the war with Iran, it warned that vulnerabilities would be inevitable in a wider conflict, such as if war were to break out with China over such issues as Taiwan.
Those vulnerabilities may already be at play should the US choose to expand the war in Iran, said a US official familiar with the plans to The Washington Post.
“We do not have enough to safely sustain operations, and I don’t think the White House is aware of that,” the official said.
The dangers of the depleted supplies were made evident when the Pentagon opted to shift a number of troops away from Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, which have come under constant fire by Iran and limited Washington’s ability to station its forces and aircraft in those countries.
The US troops were moved to Jordan, which should have been relatively more secure and open to US operations, American officials told the New York Times.
But the move made Jordan a prime target for a flurry of Iranian attacks over the past week that killed two US service members and left about two dozen more injured.
At least three missiles were able to circumvent US defenses at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, with one ballistic missile hitting the housing unit where the slain troops were stationed, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The deadly attack demonstrated that Iran still has access to ample and relatively cheaper missiles and drones, which are now able to better evade America’s air defense systems, the US officials told the Times.
After the deadly attack over the weekend, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned Jordan to kick out America’s forces in the kingdom or continue to face consequences.
A total of 17 American service members have been killed since the launch of Operation Epic Fury by the US and Israel against Iran on Feb. 28.
The US has now carried out a ninth consecutive night of airstrikes against Iran in retaliation for the killings, with President Trump insisting that Tehran’s military force was battered and that it does not control the Strait of Hormuz.
Despite the escalating hostilities, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei each said that their respective nations remain open to negotiating an end to the conflict.
> MM on July 21, 2026 at 10:32 am
> In his latest Sonar21 article Larry Johnson says a new fancy word to expel the US from the Middle East is debasification. I read the article to see where the word comes from, its etymology, but Larry didn’t say so it could be his own word, and it may mean to de-base.
He’s just twisted busification – the word the jewkrainians use when their sons, brothers and husbands are kidnapped by their jewish regime and murdered on the front line. Currently it’s running at one white male slav killed every two minutes. (20,000 a month / 31 days / 24 hours = 26 every hour.)
Mwoor woor news:
> Iran Army has ‘already defined precise defense scenarios’ to counter any enemy incursion
That’s what the ragheads are saying today. So you see, they have the all-powerful all-seeing eye and you better watch out.
I wonder if the Russians have defined any precise whatnots yet?
And yet more:
Regarding the dumping of the turd world on the jews in the “countryside”, they’re all going on about “how unsafe we feel” (when a thousand invaders are parked next to them).
Then they say things like:
“The English countryside is not a warehouse. The people who live there are not collateral.”
No, but all the people in the cities are, right?
Some woman was “out walking with my three young daughters” and claims some nigger was following her and that she was so “terrified” that she filmed the whole thing. Very intelligent.
The best the jews in “Piddlington” can do is “there’s been no public consultation”. That and some pathetic “referendum”. Not that anyone cares, because no one in brit-stain cares about anyone but themselves and they only start yapping when it happens to them. If they’d had the “referendum” in Pissington the day before, they’d have all said “you’re a wase-cist”.
> America’s ability to continue in a prolonged conflict could be undermined by its rapidly depleting stocks of interceptor missiles. This is all according to plan: Tehran planned for a protracted war.
Darn those ragheads!
I know! Let’s break out the roadrunner ACME kit and build some mwoor boom-booms!
The world’s biggest war machine has been brought to its knees by “careful planning.” Of course it has. Why not?
Some 3 year old in Wisconsin pointed out that for every “interceptor” (you have to say it in a deep threatening voice), the ragheads need an “obliterator” (don’t forget the deep voice). Being 3, she has yet to learn the “skills” to be an “expert”, so they had her gang raped to show her the way of things. Oh no, sorry: she was “groomed”.
An old Granny is refusing to sell land to make way for £45m bypass to protect an ancient tree
An elderly widow is refusing to sell a patch of her garden to developers behind a £45million road scheme – in a bid to protect a 500-year-old oak tree. Jean Harris, 79, is battling plans for a new link road that would slice through her two-thirds of an acre plot in the Herefordshire village of Allensmore. The retired school secretary and piano teacher claims the council-backed project would bring a 60mph road just yards from her bungalow and wipe out vital wildlife habitats.
This isa growing feeling in the UK
and starmers idea to build a million and a half houses on UK farmland has angered the people who dont want the migrants anyway
It’s just as well the US cannot admit defeat. Instead of fleeing shamelessly out of harm’s way it will stay and get its teeth kicked out.
thank god kier starmer has gone
he gave his resignation speech
and now had slunk back to israel and his rent boys
good riddance arsole
Such lies coming out of the Post, and of course we have to have “experts” to convince us of this fake war as “raging”. Running out of missiles? Don’t think so. It’s just talk from the weapons dealers, who will get a nice hefty contract to build more. All leading towards a couple years more of this charade. And how come all of the sudden Iran stops blowing up Israel trash cans ?
Strategic Bombing—One Hundred Years of Unfulfilled Promises, War Crimes and Corruption
The Royal Air Force was created when the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service were merged in April, 1918. Similarly in America military aviation was dependent on the Navy or the Army. The USAAF (United States Army Air Force) was disbanded for the creation of the USAF in 1947. Since Navy aviation was also at risk of being downgraded, there was serious push back against this arrangement. The U.S. Navy basically won the Pacific War, while the army was in a meaningless though bloody campaign in the Philippines lead by Douglas MacArthur. Imagine a city more destroyed than Warsaw. There is one, Manila, the Philippines.
From a middle-class Irish Catholic family the Navy Secretary back then, James Forrestal was leading opposition. Like many others he believed the Navy would be crippled, Marines primarily, without specialized Navy aviation. The fact is the Navy had an unprecedented budget cut. Bizarrely Forrestal ended up suicided by the usual suspects (they threw him out the window from a high building), only to be vindicated months later in the Korean War when Washington was caught unprepared.
USAF took a wrong turn in spite of warning voices. They were investing heavily in supersonic jets designed to intercept Soviet strategic bombers that could carry THE BOMB. Not sure if that is a good idea but definitely is a money pit. They had to call in old B-29 and P-51 aircrafts, old pilots included, to provide support for ground troops. Supersonic jets from that era could perform that task poorly. In 1950 the US Armed Forces was about to be expelled from the Korean peninsula in a red Blitzkrieg. For MacArthur’s credit he saved the day with a bold amphibious deployment in the commie’s flank. We do have to forget the Korean War, they believe. That’s when we realized we had to pick up the bloody fight against commies where Germany left. Talk about buyer’s remorse.
Even today, America has small Army but hypertrophied Air Force designed mostly for strategic long range bombing. The A-10 Warthog is the best aircraft for tactical support out there. The plane was designed to take some hits since it slowly flies in close (visual) contact to threatened ground troops. It has a titanium armored capsule. Not to mention the feared 30mm Vulcan multi-barrel cannon. Amazingly, the Pentagram did not order more units then production was discontinued in 1984. I guess ‘Fairchild Aircraft’ from NY ain’t in the BIG CLUB.
Washington seems to be willing to escalate strategic bombing of Iran to the next level—bombing of civilian infrastructure, civilians included. It has been already tried and it doesn’t work against a determined enemy. They said they were bombing ‘houses’ of German workers, for no avail. In spite of the terror air campaign Germany had record war production in 1944, surprisingly. The Luftwaffe was designed for tactical support for Blitzkrieg. It wasn’t designed for long range strategic bombing, precisely how ZOG-UK & ZOG-US Air Forces were designed. Hitler was mistaken to bomb British cities, he should kept bombing the RAF.
Wrong strategy, Trumpo, you are going nowhere with this, except bankrupt the ‘mighty’ USAF.
The only reason Hitler decided to bomb English cities was – because Churchill decided to bomb German cities first.
GB News interrupted for breaking announcement in bombshell migrant alert
Story by Jennie Buzaglo • 7h
© GB News was paused for a breaking update
Keir Starmer failed to stop the boats and now the question is whether new Prime Minister Andy Burnham will stop them
On Wednesday (July 22), GB News came to a halt to announce that a “mega dinghy” had launched from a beach in France. The boat left from a beach called Équihen-Plage, located in the south of Boulogne. Reacting to the footage they had witnessed, White said there was “absolute chaos” in the water as the boat, already packed with migrants, headed towards the beach to pick up “several dozen more”. He continued: “Most of them couldn’t even get onto the vessel. They were left scrambling about, trying to get on that dinghy, many of them falling back into the water. French rescue crafts were zipping about and plucking people out of the water.”
The fact is the government want them here, or they would stop them
Lonon is awash with criminal gangs and nothing is being done
like the mass rapes of hundreds of young girls
the government just looks the other way, no wonder the country is screaming for Rupert Lowe
IRELANSD SAYS NO MORE MIGRANTS
“Enough is enough – it’s time to face facts on immigration”
The reality of Ireland’s immigration crisis can no longer be ignored. In the past week alone, we have witnessed yet another violent incident involving an asylum seeker—this time ending in fatal consequences in the heart of Dublin. This follows a separate shocking attack in Stoneybatter where three innocent people were stabbed. These events, viewed by millions around the world, underscore the very real and dangerous consequences of the Government’s failure to implement proper immigration controls.
Independent Ireland has consistently called for a firm crackdown on Ireland’s asylum process, highlighting the risks of an unchecked system. Yet, time and again, these warnings were dismissed.
Its high time now we started sending them back, london may be the stabbings capital of europe
but ireland is not far behind
Not enough missiles?
Easy…buy them from Iran.
Not so an outlandish idea in view of some opinions, true or not, that allies had to help Nazi Germany to fight WW2.