In some regions of the US, fewer than 100 Patriot missiles remain — NYT

Fewer than 100 Patriot missiles left in some US regions — NYT

US Vice President JD Vance has received warnings from military commanders that America's critical ammunition stockpiles have fallen to historic lows during the war with Iran.

In the spring and summer, Vance contacted American commanders in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia directly to ask for their assessments regarding the war with Iran. The Vice President was also interested in how the shipment of weapons to the Middle East was affecting the US's ability to deter China, Russia, and North Korea.

Commanders were particularly concerned about the dwindling stockpile of interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems. By late spring, one of the US military regions had fewer than 100 such missiles left.

The war with Iran also severely impacted stockpiles of ATACMS missiles, which can strike targets at a range of nearly 300 kilometers, and the new Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) intended to replace them.

The military informed Vance that stockpiles of these critical types of ammunition had fallen to the lowest levels since they began tracking them. This raised questions about the ability to counter potential threats in other regions while simultaneously repelling Iranian retaliatory strikes.

According to NYT sources, the information Vance received also indicated that the Iranian government was able to withstand more pressure than the US had expected. The Vice President discussed these assessments in closed-door conversations with Donald Trump and his closest advisers.

Meanwhile, Trump began receiving briefings from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General CQ Brown, about the pressure on American ammunition stockpiles and the state of Iranian forces. The President initially found some of the assessments difficult to believe.

This information contrasted with the Trump administration's public statements. The US President had repeatedly asserted that the country had won the war with Iran and that there were no issues with American weapons stockpiles.

Following the disclosure of information about the dwindling weapons stockpiles, a large-scale investigation began at the Pentagon. In August, nearly 50 military and civilian staff members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were subjected to polygraph tests. One of the main goals of the investigation was to identify who had leaked the classified information about ammunition stockpiles to the media.

Vens began gathering detailed information about the situation just days after the war started. Even before the February 28 attack, he had opposed launching a war against Iran, but once Trump made the decision, he defended it publicly.

The Pentagon had initially assumed the military campaign would last approximately six weeks. When the fighting dragged on far beyond this timeframe, American commands in other regions were ordered to send additional ammunition from their own stockpiles to the Middle East.

By April, realizing that the war was not going as initially planned, Trump authorized Vance, Jared Kushner, and special envoy Steve Witkoff to seek ways to reach an agreement with Iran. The negotiations led to a 60-day agreement in June, but when this period expired in August, the parties were unable to reach a final deal.

Information about the depletion of US weapons stockpiles had circulated previously. In early August, it was reported that the US Army had expended a large portion of its ATACMS and PrSM long-range missiles during the war with Iran. At that time, military leaders had also warned that Patriot missile stockpiles were dwindling.

As early as March, the Pentagon had requested $200 billion in additional funding from Congress to replenish stockpiles, including the purchase of Patriot and THAAD missiles. It was also reported that in the first five days of the war, the US spent approximately $2.4 billion on Patriot interceptor missiles alone.