The Pentagon may go to Congress for yet more money for weapons in a supplemental spending request, though it has not yet decided to take such a step.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time we use something in combat, we\u2019re always looking at how to reconstitute and sustain that capability,\u201d Hurst said. \u201cThere could certainly be overlap in a supplemental request, because there is going to be a focus on munitions in this budget or a supplemental.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over six weeks of conflict, the U.S. attacked over 13,000 targets, according to the U.S. military. It also intercepted more than 1,700 Iranian ballistic missiles and one-way attack drones, said<\/a> Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine.\u00a0\t\t<\/p>\n That fighting has consumed a substantial portion of the U.S. inventory of critical munitions, according to a recent analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies<\/a>.<\/p>\n News reports<\/a> and CSIS estimates indicate the U.S. has expended around 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles compared with a prewar estimated inventory of 3,100, and more than 1,000 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles, or JASSMs, compared with a prewar inventory of 4,400. Most of the Army\u2019s stock of PrSM ballistic missiles were fired.<\/p>\n CSIS also estimates that the U.S. used over 1,000 Patriot interceptors and hundreds of THAAD, SM-3, and SM-6 missile defense interceptors as it sought to fend off Iran\u2019s attacks on U.S. bases and countries across the region.<\/p>\n \u201cThe United States didn\u2019t have enough munitions prior to the conflict for some of the potential future contingencies that it might face, particularly against a more advanced adversary in the Indo-Pacific,\u201d said Becca Wasser, defense lead for Bloomberg Economics. \u201cBut now, with such a high rate of expenditure, especially of some of those higher-end munitions, more needs to be done in order to rebuild those stockpiles.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the munitions buy does not reflect the Iran war, I think we\u2019re all in for a bit of sticker shock,\u201d she added. \u201cI think there\u2019s an open question about industrial capacity, as well as some of the bottlenecks that we continually see.\u201d\t\t<\/p>\n Hurst said while the new budget request does not cover the \u201coperational costs\u201d of the conflict with Iran, it is an important step to \u201creconstitute America\u2019s defense industrial base and give us capacity.\u201d However, turning those expenditures into weapons stockpiles will take years, experts say.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a huge amount of money in \u201927 for munitions. That\u2019s the right thing to do,\u201d said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel and one of the authors of the CSIS report. \u201cThe problem is that it\u2019s going to take many years for that money to turn into missiles.\u201d<\/p>\n The munitions expenditure in the Iran conflict is already affecting some American allies. On April 20, Estonia\u2019s minister of defense, Hanno Pevkur, said the U.S. had paused weapons deliveries to the country, which he had raised with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Trump administration has pushed U.S. allies to invest more in defense. And that has added to demand for an overtaxed defense industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFirst time in a long time, money is not the problem in Europe,\u201d Air Force Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, NATO\u2019s Supreme Allied Commander Europe and the head of U.S. European Command, told lawmakers last month<\/a>. \u201cThe real challenge is the production capacity and the defense industrial base, and will capabilities be able to show up on time?\u201d\t\t<\/p>\n The shortfall is a particular concern for U.S. efforts to deter China, which is seeking to pressure Taiwan to come under the control of Beijing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe risk is in a future conflict, like with China, there is now a window of vulnerability, and it\u2019s going to be years before we fully close that,\u201d Cancian said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/9593632-scaled-e1776982015684-764x450.jpg\")
A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft takes off for a combat flight during Operation Epic Fury, March 29, 2026. U.S. Air Force Photo<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/9597745-676x450.jpg\")
U.S. forces conduct air defense operations in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility during Operation Epic Fury, April 2, 2026. U.S. Army photo<\/p>\n