Recent fighting with Iran has used up more of the U.S. military’s already diminished stockpiles of advanced missile interceptors, potentially putting American troops at more risk if hostilities resume, a new analysis says.

Depleted Stockpiles

The issue came into sharp relief when the U.S. military announced that it had intercepted multiple ballistic missiles from Iran in an attempted surprise attack on U.S. forces based in the Middle East.

The nation’s advanced weapons stockpiles have become a flashpoint in the five-month-long conflict, along with the threat to the lives of American service members, heightened gasoline prices, and increasing costs to taxpayers.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has told President Donald Trump that the state of the country’s munitions stockpile could have an impact on military operations in Iran, a U.S. official said.

The Pentagon, however, pushed back against concerns that its capabilities have diminished. “America’s military is the most powerful in the world and has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the President’s choosing,” Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said in a statement.

Concerns Over Stockpiles

The number of Patriot interceptors fell from 2,330 before the war to between 759 and 827, a decrease of at least 65% since before the conflict began, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The number of THAAD interceptors fell from 452 before the war to between 232 and 262 at the start of the April ceasefire, CSIS said. The U.S. was able to replenish some of the inventory to between 234 and 278 interceptors. But the stockpile is still at least 38% smaller than it was before the conflict.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers last week that the war has cost an estimated $37.5 billion. The Pentagon is asking Congress for $67 billion to replenish the military in the wake of the war, which would include funding for more high-end munitions, such as Patriots and THAADs.

Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.