Army Chief of Staff General Randy George warned in late December, two months before the Iran war began, that the Army was critically short on missile defense munitions and that the shortage would last until 2030, according to multiple U.S. officials who spoke to CBS News. The Pentagon says claims of munitions shortages are “false.”

The warning was a risk analysis in the Pentagon’s Global Force Management Allocation Plan for fiscal 2027, which sets where troops and weapons go worldwide, the officials said. They said THAAD and Patriot interceptors would stay strategically low, citing Patriot transfers to Ukraine, munitions used to defend Israel during the 12 Day War and reduced industrial capacity. CBS withheld the exact percentages for security reasons. Gen. George declined to comment.

Officials told CBS the U.S. still holds a significant stock of offensive munitions, such as JDAMs and Small Diameter Bombs, but missile defense interceptors are low. One said even with no further use, restoring the already low December 2025 levels would take until 2030.

Outside estimates from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), cited by CBS, suggest the war used up to 61% of about 2,300 prewar Patriot interceptors and up to 82% of about 355 THAAD interceptors. CSIS said fewer than 500 Patriot replacements were expected in fiscal 2026 and no THAAD deliveries. The U.S. has requested more than 800 THAADs for fiscal 2027, and Lockheed announced in January a plan to raise THAAD capacity from 96 to 400 a year.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the U.S. has “everything required to strike at the time and place of the President’s choosing.”

Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/randy-george-missile-defense-shortage-iran-china/