US military says Iran war has led to munitions shortfall

WASHINGTON: The US Defense Department's inspector general revealed Monday (Sep 15) that the United States is facing a shortfall in ammunition as a result of its costly war in Iran.

In a first-of-its-kind mandatory report to Congress, the inspector said that between Feb 28 and Jun 30, Operation Epic Fury (OEF) had an estimated cost of US$33.4 billion, with US$22.3 billion of that spent on expended munitions alone.

The report noted "the munitions expenditure on OEF has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply".

It also lists losses to the American fleet, including four F-15s destroyed, one F-35 damaged, seven KC-135 tanker aircraft damaged and up to 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones destroyed.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly brushed off concerns of depleted weapons stores during the six months of war in the Middle East, saying the US has "virtually unlimited" ammo just a couple weeks ago.

On Monday Trump posted to his Truth Social platform saying again the US is producing "more Exquisite and Elite Weapons than at any time in our History".

CNN has previously reported shortages of long-range guided missiles and air-defence interceptors had affected Trump's strategy in the conflict with Iran, with the US military having "nearly exhausted 80 per cent" of its stock of THAAD interceptors.

During the first 24 hours of war against Iran, the United States struck more than 1,000 targets, US Central Command (CENTCOM) has said, and has not returned to such large-scale attacks in recent months.

The report notes that "Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan during the conflict", but does not include those costs in the cost estimates, saying it's not yet clear if all the bases will be built, or who will foot the bill.