U.S. Has 'Burned Through' Eye-Popping Amount of Munitions During Trump's Iran War: Report
Source: MEDIAite
Apr 23rd, 2026, 9:02 pm
The United States has used a staggering amount of its weapons cache in the war with Iran, spending millions and blowing through a large chunk of its stockpile in the two months since the conflict began.
The ongoing conflict with Iran has lasted barely eight weeks, yet in that time the U.S. has fired off a truly stunning number of missiles, a report from The New York Times found. Over a thousand Precision Strike and ground-based missiles were deployed in the war, an amount that emptied the U.S. tranche to such an extent that congressional officials and Defense Department estimates showed concern.
“Since the Iran war began in late February, the United States has burned through around 1,100 of its long-range stealth cruise missiles built for a war with China, close to the total number remaining in the U.S. stockpile,” the report read. “The military has fired off more than 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles, roughly 10 times the number it currently buys each year.”
Munitions have been used to the point where bombs have had to be sent from Asian and European commands to accommodate U.S. needs, draining their own weapons supplies and, crucially, their surveillance capabilities. The U.S. has also reportedly pulled large amounts of missiles and interceptors from South Korea.
Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/u-s-has-burned-through-eye-popping-amount-of-munitions-during-trumps-iran-war-report/
Link to NYT article - https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/us/politics/iran-war-cost-military.html
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ret5hd
(22,536 posts)
OldBaldy1701E
(11,363 posts)They will deplete our ability to defend, and then the 'New Axis' can start destabilizing the entire country, as we would have no way to defend ourselves.
(Of course, it is also doubtful that enough of us would try to stop it anyway, but that is another story for another time.)
Also, bear in mind that we may well be attacked with our own munitions, as the warmongers around here have no issue with arming both sides of a conflict and then watching as the money and the bodies both pile up.
OKIsItJustMe
(21,919 posts)
Irish_Dem
(81,974 posts)OKIsItJustMe
(21,919 posts)If production rates have been (relatively) low, you cannot “ramp up” production overnight. Older weapons were likely built with what are now obsolete components… If you’re looking for a limited run (say… thousands) of IC’s which are not currently manufactured, they will cost a pretty penny. On the other hand, the Pentagon won’t want to re-engineer a proven design.
OKIsItJustMe
(21,919 posts)…
The Tomahawk Block V carries an official FY2026 unit cost of $2.5 million, though contract prices range from $1.75 million to $4.1 million depending on variant and order size. Lockheed Martin’s JASSM-ER is the stealthy standoff missile that Air Force and Navy aircraft carry into defended airspace. U.S. procurement figures place it at $1.4 to $1.6 million per unit, with exact current-year figures not publicly confirmed. Boeing’s GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator is the 30,000-pound bunker buster that only a B-2 Spirit can carry. It is so specialized that production contracts have historically run in the tens of millions for small lots, meaning per-unit costs that far exceed even the Tomahawk.
…
The Procurement Architecture Pre-Selects the Winners
The question of who gets paid to replace expended munitions is not an open question. It was answered in advance, in contract documents, by a procurement architecture that reflects a clear policy choice to use sole-source contracts when only one qualified manufacturer exists. That structure puts speed and industrial base stability ahead of competitive pricing. Defense economists have debated that tradeoff for decades.
…
RTX Corporation, the company formed when Raytheon merged with United Technologies in 2020, holds the exclusive contract to build Tomahawks. RTX manufactures both the land-attack and ship-targeting versions across all current production blocks. On February 4, 2026, three weeks before Operation Epic Fury commenced, RTX announced a major long-term deal with the Pentagon to increase Tomahawk production to over 1,000 units annually. That is a more than tenfold increase from the previous baseline.
…
For JASSM-ER missiles, the arrangement runs parallel. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, headquartered in Grand Prairie, Texas, holds the primary production contract. In March 2026, one week after the opening strikes, Lockheed Martin received an addition to its existing contract worth $122.6 million to ramp up JASSM production. The company had already invested in a new 225,000-square-foot production facility in 2022. That facility features robotic paint lines and automated testing, built specifically to increase JASSM quantities. Those facilities now run at higher usage rates as demand spikes.
…
Irish_Dem
(81,974 posts)Some things never change.
OKIsItJustMe
(21,919 posts)And the American Civil War and the Revolutionary War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_profiteering#American_Revolution
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bingham#Business_interests
(As you said) “Some things never change."
littlemissmartypants
(34,176 posts)Sometimes, it's necessary to go a long distance out of the way to come back a short distance correctly.
Attilatheblond
(9,101 posts)Irish_Dem
(81,974 posts)Combination of threats and bribes?
Plus Trump loves every minute of it.
Maggiemayhem
(891 posts)The US Justice Department brought back federal firing squads.
UpInArms
(55,169 posts)Kegsbreath is showing his superior warrior man knowledge
IronLionZion
(51,468 posts)
Walleye
(45,191 posts)To even lift our arms
Ford_Prefect
(8,638 posts)This kind of 1 dimensional thinking by our spoiled brat-in-chief, his cabinet of dolts, and the Congressional GOP skivers is destroying our country and the planet at every turn. Every statement they make, every edict they announce, every bill they sneak or pummel through brings the end of our world closer and closer.
They are so determined to adhere to Donnie's mad dogmas and the greed inspired project 2025 that they have no clue at all just how close to the edge they have pushed us, and the world at large.
Woe betides the GOP fact free universe with all its ugly and ill gotten Idols.
dave99
(110 posts)Irish_Dem
(81,974 posts)China will also emerge as a world leader as the US sinks in power and prestige.
AverageOldGuy
(4,050 posts). . . we need $1.5 trillion for the Pentagon?
travelingthrulife
(5,434 posts)After all, Trump has pissed off so many potential buyers.
republianmushroom
(22,498 posts)And lobster diners for whiskey Pete.
Irish_Dem
(81,974 posts)And Trump will get a big piece of that $1.5T.
Miguelito Loveless
(5,828 posts)are thrilled.
LudwigPastorius
(14,889 posts)Irish_Dem
(81,974 posts)
twodogsbarking
(19,114 posts)
ChicagoTeamster
(1,127 posts)popsdenver
(2,461 posts)when Rumsfeld said, just before Desert Storm took place, "The war will take Three Days and cost three billion dollars"?
And the Iraq gov't will repay us in oil sales.
Interestingly, the war's cost to U.S. taxpayers is still being calculated, and it just passed TWO TRILLION DOLLARS, and still going.
flashman13
(2,495 posts)I love the smell of regime change in the morning. I smells like Trump. 
popsdenver
(2,461 posts)smells like is a grease trap at a restaurant...........
BlueWavePsych
(3,414 posts)The Pentagon used more than 1,200 Patriot interceptor missiles in the war, at more than $4 million a pop, and more than 1,000 Precision Strike and ATACMS ground-based missiles, leaving inventories worrisomely low, according to internal Defense Department estimates and congressional officials.
The Iran war has significantly drained much of the U.S. military’s global supply of munitions, and forced the Pentagon to rush bombs, missiles and other hardware to the Middle East from commands in Asia and Europe. The drawdowns have left these regional commands less ready to confront potential adversaries like Russia and China, and it has forced the United States to find ways to scale up production to address the depletions, Trump administration and congressional officials say.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/us/politics/iran-war-cost-military.html?unlocked_article_code=1.dVA.YSDN.qugKJRWy3qwq&smid=url-share
Credit: cliffside
https://democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=21193751
ruet
(10,312 posts)...for, unplanned, offensive operations.
popsdenver
(2,461 posts)By depleting the U.S. stock piles of weapons, they can say that they have no extras to give to Ukraine, or our NATO allies in Europe......or to defend anyone in the Asia area.....A win-win for Putin.......
AND, OF COURSE, all the time, enriching the Military Industrial Complex Corporations with continued un-fathomable profits. Which in turn, rains down to un-limited corporate donations to Republican Politician Candidates.......all of which increases the prices of stocks which 85?% are owned by the top 10 % Uber Rich in the U.S.
The Republicans have been organizing and orchestrating ALL of this since 1980, slowly putting all the pieces in place for a devastating, full roll-out during these past ten years..........Seemingly creating a Check-Mate Scenario to destroy our Economy, Our Country, our Constitution, and most of all, our beloved Democracy.......
The perfect title for a book about the past 46+ years would be: WHILE THE NATION SLEPT
I distinctly recall a statement made by a Republican Aide to a Democrat Aide during the Cheney/Rumsfeld Reign:
"We (Republicans) will do whatever we want, and all that you (Dems) will be able to do, .....is stand back and watch...."
If this all continues......I suspect, that sometime in the future, the U.S. will start removing the U.S. Military Bases in Europe, bringing back all the soldiers and sailors to the continental U.S.. They will leave everything behind, which will further enhance Putin's take over of Europe....
Exactly what Trump did in Syria years ago to help Syria's Assad, and Trump's beloved Putin......freeing up Putin to supply Chemical Weapons to ASSAD for him to use against the resistance to Assad's regime.....
The same will happen in other areas of the world where we have bases.......Furthermore, all of those military personnel will be needed here in the U.S. to establish Martial Law across the U.S., after Repulicans enable the Insurrection Act, and ignore the Posse Comatatus Act, (which they have already done) in many areas of the country.......
BobTheSubgenius
(12,244 posts)Depending on era, and therefore available technologies, it has always relied on saturation bombing and massive artillery barrages in land engagements. Missiles are today's artillery, so....
If a country has the infrastructure to maintain such campaigns, the number of soldiers that come home that wouldn't have without that level of "preparation" makes it well worthwhile, IMO. In this case, however, I can find no rationale for any of it.
sakabatou
(46,210 posts)
jmowreader
(53,309 posts)All the money that would have been spent on, say, feeding children and healthcare for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars has now got to be diverted to defense contractors to replace all the ordnance Trump expended in the two wars he started this year.
no_hypocrisy
(55,158 posts)we’re out of conventional weapons.
Irish_Dem
(81,974 posts)Irish_Dem
(81,974 posts)
surrealAmerican
(11,912 posts)These weapons were produced without any thought of the cost of actually using them: "If they cost more, they must be better!." "If we spend more, we are stronger!" "We're the richest, so we're the best!"
enid602
(9,736 posts)Thanks to Israel’s incredibly strict media blackout, the world will not see the damage in Tel Aviv. If you believe the videos coming out of Israel these days, the only concern of people on the street is trying to decide which establishments have the best matcha offerings.
Norrrm
(5,350 posts)How much did they order built in the first year to increase the stockpile?
Are they whining about something they thought was OK until they used so much of it?
Aussie105
(8,093 posts)Multiple million donations only, the bigger the better.
No takers?
Well, those weapons of Mass Destruction (for overseas use) don't grow on trees, so the taxpayers will need to suffer some more.
But that has been the American Disease for a long time, impoverished citizens by the millions, health care and education underfunded, simply because the Military Industrial Complex, the one created during WW2, was never disbanded and grew instead, and now needs to be fed.
Other countries seem to have a different approach.
Never got into the 'We must prepare for the next glorious World War!' mindset.
Yeah, those so called horrible 'socialist' countries.
