"WASHINGTON -- The U.S. is running low on some types of air-defense missiles, raising questions about the Pentagon's readiness to respond to the continuing conflicts in the Middle East and Europe and a potential conflict in the Pacific.
Interceptors are fast becoming the most sought-after ordnance during the widening crisis in the Middle East, as Israel and other U.S. allies face an increasing threat from missiles and drones fired by Iran and the militias it supports. 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.
Standard Missiles, which are ship launched, are among the most common interceptors the U.S. has used to defend Israeli territory from Iranian missile attacks and are critical for stopping Houthis attacks on western ships in the Red Sea. The U.S. launched more than 100 Standard Missiles since Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, the U.S. officials said.
The Defense Department said it doesn't publicly disclose its stockpiles because the information is classified and could be leveraged by Iran and its proxies. "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 said.
The heavy use of the Pentagon's stockpile of missile interceptors is raising concerns about the ability of the U.S. and its allies to keep pace with unexpected, high demand created by conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. The Pentagon worries it could run through its inventory faster than it can replace them, leaving the U.S. vulnerable in a potential conflict in the Pacific, analysts and officials 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," said Elias Yousif is a Fellow and deputy director of the Conventional Defense Program at the Stimson Center. "And both of those conflicts are extended conflicts, which was not part of the U.S. defense planning."
Mark Montgomery, a retired rear admiral and now a senior director at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a conservative think tank, said: "We're spending a year's worth of Standard Missiles -- those are standard missiles that are supposed to be part of rearming ourselves for China."
Increasing production of weapons has proved difficult for the Pentagon, since it often requires companies open new production lines, expand facilities and hire additional workers. Companies are often reluctant to invest in that expansion without knowing that the Pentagon is committing to buying at increased levels over the long term.
Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro told lawmakers in May testimony that he is pressing industry to increase production of Standard Missiles because the U.S. has deployed so many interceptors in the Middle East. There are some increases in two variants of Standard Missiles, he said, but acknowledged the difficulty of boosting production. "The more sophisticated the missile, the harder it is to produce them," he said.
The concerns over a shortage of interceptors prompted senior Pentagon officials, including Del Toro, and Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr., the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, to look at alternate technology, including drawing on new companies to help increase production of new types of air defense missiles.
The U.S. built up interceptor stocks over recent years, but the U.S. in any one month of the conflict in the Middle East has launched dozens of missiles, and production capacity can't keep up, analysts and defense officials said. RTX, the producer of the Standard Missiles, can make a maximum of a few hundred a year, a U.S. defense official.
But that production isn't all for the Pentagon, since at least 14 allies buy Standard Missiles, according to RTX. The company declined to comment on its production capacity, but RTX spokesman Chris Johnson said, "We work closely with the Department of Defense to meet their production needs for Standard Missiles."
Since the war between Hamas and Israel began last year, U.S. ships launched more than $1.8 billion of interceptors to stop Iran and its proxies from attacking Israel and ships traveling through the Red Sea, according to the Navy. The Navy often launches two interceptors for every one missile when responding to attacks, essentially as an insurance policy to ensure the target is hit. A single Standard Missile can cost millions of dollars, making it an expensive way to defend against Iranian-made weapons, which cost much less.
"Those are really expensive munitions to shoot down crappy Houthi targets," one congressional official said, "and every one they expend takes months to replace -- and at high, high cost."
The U.S. launched a dozen Standard Missiles during Iran's Oct. 1 missile attack on Israel, in addition to employing other air-defense systems, but U.S. and Israeli forces let through some of the 180 Iranian missiles that they knew wouldn't strike valuable sites to preserve its stock of interceptors, U.S. officials said.
This month, in the run-up to Israel's retaliatory strike on Iran, the Pentagon deployed the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or Thaad system, to Israel, a move that allows the U.S. to use interceptors other than Standard Missiles to bolster Israel's defenses.
Pentagon officials said the plan is to maintain the current production levels of the Standard Missiles, though there will be cuts to some of the older variants to fund newer ones." [1]
1. Pentagon Runs Low On Air Defense Missiles --- Large number of interceptors used in Middle East raises readiness concerns. Youssef, Nancy A; Lubold, Gordon. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 29 Oct 2024: A.1.
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