The U.S. has run down its weapons in the Iran War... It even pulled Patriot missiles deployed in South Korea

【Financial News Seoul·New York=Kim Kyung-min Reporter Lee Byung-chul Correspondent】As the United States has used up large numbers of key missiles, including MIM-104 Patriot missiles, in the Iran War, its weapons stockpiles have fallen to a worrying level. The United States has also moved air-defense missiles deployed in South Korea and other parts of Asia to the Middle East, while demanding emergency production increases from the defense industry. However, with stockpile recovery expected to take years, concerns are mounting that U.S. deterrence in other regions, including the Korean Peninsula and the Taiwan Strait, could weaken.
■ 1,500 Patriot missiles fired, 1,700 left
According to The New York Times and The Washington Post on the 8th local time, the prolonged Iran War is rapidly reducing U.S. stockpiles of precision-strike weapons and air-defense missiles.
The most serious shortage is in the PAC-3 missile, a core air-defense system for the U.S. military. The United States has used more than 1,500 Patriot missiles in operations related to Iran, and current remaining stock is estimated at fewer than 1,700. In effect, it has spent nearly an amount equal to its entire current inventory in the Iran War. Given the defense industry's production pace, replenishing those stocks is expected to take more than two years. Other missiles are also being depleted quickly. In just the first month of the Iran War, the United States fired more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles and more than 1,000 interceptors for Patriot and THAAD. During the first several weeks of combat, it also used more than 1,300 ATACMS missiles.
On the 5th, Stephen Feinberg, the deputy defense secretary, ordered major defense contractors to submit plans within 21 days to expand deliveries of key weapons and increase production capacity. Feinberg said that "development cycles that take years are unacceptable" and also called for concrete investment plans to expand production facilities. Sean Parnell, the Pentagon's chief spokesman, said that "the memo does exist" and added that "the production expansion plan will be reflected in the fiscal 2028 budget proposal."
■ South Korean air-defense missiles also headed to the Middle East
The U.S. weapons shortage is spilling over into force gaps in other regions. According to The New York Times, hundreds of advanced air-defense interceptors were moved from South Korea and other parts of Asia to the Middle East. Many long-range weapons needed for a conflict with China, including Tomahawk missiles, as well as an aircraft carrier strike group and some of the military's most elite destroyers, were also deployed to the Middle East.
One U.S. official noted that "if the Defense Department shifts surveillance and reconnaissance assets to the Middle East and pulls back air-defense forces, USFK could become more vulnerable than before in the event of a military clash with North Korea." Concerns were also raised inside the U.S. government that growing distrust in America's conventional defense capabilities could strengthen calls for independent nuclear armament in South Korea and Japan.
Ukraine is already feeling the impact. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that "the number of air-defense missiles supplied by the West this year has fallen to one-third of last year's level." U.S. President Donald Trump also said on the 6th, in response to Ukraine's request for additional missile support, "We need them too."
The possibility that China and Russia could exploit the U.S. force gap is also being raised. U.S. officials believe both countries are tracking U.S. weapons stockpiles through reconnaissance satellites and other means, and that they also understand it will take time for the United States to rebuild inventories to the level needed to carry out specific war plans.
Tom Karako, a senior fellow at CSIS, described the current situation as "a generational collapse of conventional deterrence" and warned that "the U.S. weapons shortage could affect the strategic calculations of China and Russia." In response, the U.S. Department of Defense officially denied the possibility of a weapons shortage, saying it "has everything needed to strike at the time and place chosen by the president."
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