US Faces Ammunition Shortages in Iran Conflict, Pentagon Report Suggests

A Pentagon internal report suggests the United States may be facing ammunition shortages in its conflict with Iran. The report, released on September 14, 2023, assesses that the excessive use of ammunition in military operations has depleted strategic stockpiles and raised questions about the military industry's production capacity. According to the report, military operations against Iran between February 28 and June 30 cost approximately $33.4 billion, with $22.3 billion spent on ammunition. This significant expenditure has led to a shortage of strategic ammunition stockpiles and indicated the military industry's inability to produce enough ammunition for new inventories. However, the Department of Defense emphasizes that measures are being taken to boost ammunition production and replenish stocks. Reports in June indicated that the US was short of certain missiles, particularly interceptor missiles, a claim the government denied. Then-President Donald Trump asserted that the US had an enormous supply of ammunition. Despite this, in early September, Trump tweeted that America had an "immeasurable" amount of ammunition. The ammunition shortage is reported to be one of the reasons why the President could not continue large-scale additional attacks against Iran this summer. Furthermore, despite the extensive use of interceptor missiles, Iranian attacks reportedly caused damage to hundreds of buildings and facilities at US military bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan. The report also details the loss of four F-15 fighter jets, damage to one F-35 fighter jet, the loss of seven military transport aircraft, and the loss of up to 30 MQ-9 REAPER attack drones. Source: Koh Santep Khmer