Report: U.S. Running Low on Interceptor Missiles Amid Mideast, Ukraine Wars

Date: 30 October 2024 - 22:11

News ID: ۱۳۳۰۲۷

LONDON (Dispatches) - U.S. stockpiles of air-defense missiles are running low amid surging demand in Israel and Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Pentagon officials and analysts are reportedly “concerned” over U.S. readiness due to an inability to produce new missiles faster than they are being used.
The figures by the report suggested that since October last year, more than 100 Standard Missiles have been launched in an attempt to intercept incoming missiles, including those fired by resistance groups like Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“The shortfall could become even more urgent after Israel’s Friday night strikes on Iran, which U.S. officials fear might spark another wave of attacks by Tehran,” the WSJ further said.
“The U.S. has not developed a defense industrial base intended for a large-scale war of attrition in both Europe and the Middle East, while meeting its own readiness standards,” Elias Yousif, deputy director of the Conventional Defense Program at the Stimson Center, told the WSJ. “And both of those wars are extended conflicts, which was not part of U.S. defense planning.”
Washington cannot publicly disclose its stockpile strength due to security concerns. Pentagon officials said there are no plans to increase production of Standard Missiles.
“Over the course of the last year, the Department of Defense has augmented our force posture in the region to protect U.S. forces and support the defense of Israel, while always taking into account U.S. readiness and stockpiles,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told the WSJ.