Report: Yemen Campaign Draining U.S. Arms

Date: 09 April 2025 - 21:54

News ID: ۱۳۸۲۸۶

WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- The U.S. military is becoming “increasingly concerned” that it will soon need to relocate long-range precision munitions from the Asia-Pacific region, due to the large amounts of weaponry Washington is burning through in its war on Yemen, according to the New York Times (NYT).
Washington is particularly concerned that U.S. readiness for a potential conflict with China is being harmed by the campaign against Yemen.
“U.S. readiness in the Pacific is being hurt by the Pentagon’s deployment of warships and aircraft … The American ships and aircraft, as well as the service members working on them, are being pushed at what the military calls a high operating tempo. Even basic equipment maintenance becomes an issue under those grinding conditions,” anonymous congressional officials told NYT.
The USS Harry S. Truman, which is being targeted constantly by the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) in the Red Sea, is now being joined by the USS Carl Vinson, which was previously deployed in the western Pacific.
Munitions are also being depleted, as stockpiles were already below what is required when the former U.S. administration began a bombing campaign against Yemen in January 2024. In mid-March, U.S. President Donald Trump renewed the campaign with severe intensity, with heavy attacks targeting Yemen on a daily basis.
A senior defense official told the congressional aides speaking with NYT that the Pentagon is “risking real operational problems” if a conflict with China were to erupt.
The bombing campaign against Yemen has been extremely costly.
Sources who spoke to CNN over the weekend say it has cost nearly $1 billion in under three weeks.
The offensive has relied on expensive precision munitions like Tomahawk missiles, JASSMs, JSOWs, B-2 bombers from the Diego Garcia base, and additional aircraft carriers and fighter jets. Despite this, the YAF continues to launch ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, while continuing to down U.S. MQ-9 advanced drones – each carrying a price tag of $30 million.
Pentagon officials acknowledge that while some of the Yemeni leadership and military sites have been targeted, Yemen retains significant weapons stockpiles and fortified bunkers.
“In closed briefings in recent days, Pentagon officials have acknowledged that there has been only limited success in destroying the Houthis’ vast, largely underground arsenal of missiles, drones and launchers,” anonymous congressional aides and officials told NYT last week.
However, the campaign has taken a heavy toll on civilians. U.S. airstrikes on Yemen killed several civilians and injured over a dozen on April 8.