The U.S. military has significantly depleted its stockpile of advanced missile-defense interceptors while defending Israel during the war with Iran, firing far more high-end munitions than Israeli forces used themselves, according to Defense Department assessments described to The Washington Post.
The report said the imbalance highlights the extent to which Washington carried the burden of countering Iranian ballistic missile attacks during Operation Roaring Lion, while also raising questions about US military readiness and its security commitments elsewhere in the world.
Iranian missile interception in central Israel
According to three U.S. officials who spoke to The Washington Post on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters, the United States launched more than 200 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, interceptors in defense of Israel, roughly half of the Pentagon’s total inventory.
U.S. naval vessels in the eastern Mediterranean also fired more than 100 Standard Missile-3 and Standard Missile-6 interceptors, the officials said. Israel, by comparison, fired fewer than 100 Arrow interceptors and about 90 David’s Sling interceptors, some of which were used against less sophisticated projectiles launched by Iran-backed groups in Yemen and Lebanon.
Military analysts said the figures offer an unusual glimpse into the operational balance between the United States and Israel during the conflict.
“The numbers are striking,” said Kelly Grieco, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center. “The United States absorbed most of the missile defense mission while Israel conserved its own magazines. Even if the operational logic was sound, the United States is left with roughly 200 THAAD interceptors and a production line that can’t keep pace with demand.”
The shortage of U.S. interceptors has alarmed allies in Asia, particularly Japan and South Korea, which rely on Washington as a deterrent against threats from North Korea and China.
“That bill risks coming due in theaters that have nothing to do with Iran,” Grieco said.
U.S. and Israeli officials regularly emphasize the countries’ close military cooperation and Israel’s multilayered air-defense system. But the Pentagon assessments cited in the report point to a more uneven dynamic.
“In total, the U.S. shot around 120 more interceptors and engaged twice as many Iranian missiles,” a U.S. administration official said.
If the United States and Israel resume hostilities with Iran in the coming days, as President Donald Trump has threatened, the U.S. military is expected to shoulder an even larger share of the interceptor burden. One administration official said Israel recently decided to take some of its missile-defense batteries offline for maintenance.
“The imbalance will likely be exacerbated if fighting restarts,” the official said.
The Pentagon defended the allocation of resources between the two countries.
“Ballistic missile interceptors are just one tool in a vast network of systems and capabilities that comprise a layered and integrated air defense network,” said Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman. “Both Israel and the United States carried the defensive burden equitably during Operation Epic Fury, which saw both countries employ fighter aircraft, counter-UAS systems, and various other advanced air and missile defense capabilities with maximal effectiveness.”
Israel also rejected the notion that the burden had been unfairly distributed.
“Operations Roaring Lion and Epic Fury were coordinated at the highest and closest levels, to the benefit of both countries and their allies,” the Israeli Embassy in Washington said in a statement. “The U.S. has no other partner with the military willingness, readiness, shared interests, and capabilities of Israel.”
Since the war began on February 28, the United States and Israel have worked closely together, killing Iran’s supreme leader and dozens of senior Iranian military and political figures, while devastating Iran’s navy and air force, according to the report.
U.S. officials said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu played a central role in persuading Trump to go to war, arguing that an offensive would inspire regime change and eliminate Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon.
But tensions between the allies have increased as the war has proved more difficult than either leader expected. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted global energy supplies and fueled inflation. Despite Trump’s claim that Iran’s missile arsenal has been “mostly decimated,” U.S. intelligence assesses that Tehran still has about 70% of its prewar missile stockpile. Much of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is also believed to remain inside nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel last year.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu and Trump held what U.S. and Middle Eastern officials described as a tense phone call about the path forward. Netanyahu’s continued pressure to restart the war has frustrated some U.S. officials, particularly because renewed fighting would place additional strain on the Pentagon’s munitions supply.
“Israel is not capable of fighting and winning wars on its own, but nobody actually knows this, because they never see the back end,” a second administration official said.
It remains unclear whether the U.S. munitions shortage is influencing Trump’s decision-making on whether to resume the war.
Earlier this week, Trump said he had called off an imminent military strike on Iran after Arab allies urged him to consider a peace deal that would restrict Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the conflict.
“We’re in the final stages of Iran. We’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters Wednesday. “We’ll either have a deal, or we’re going to do some things that are a little bit nasty.”
The United States has moved additional naval assets closer to Israel in preparation for a possible resumption of hostilities and to provide added protection against Iranian threats.
U.S. officials said the possible role of Iran’s regional allies would be a key factor if fighting resumes. During the previous round of fighting, Israel’s ability to generate airstrikes had fallen by the end of March to about half its level at the start of the war, because aircraft and pilots had been worn down by operations against Houthi militants in Yemen and strikes targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, one U.S. official said.
“The sortie degradation is important,” Grieco said. “The IDF was worn down by Gaza, Lebanon, and the question I have is whether Israeli commanders underestimated their ability to sustain operational tempo.”
Officials said the United States and Israel had agreed in advance to a ballistic missile-defense framework that effectively placed much of the burden for high-end interceptions on THAAD and ship-based U.S. systems.
Israel, meanwhile, relied more heavily on lower-tier systems such as Iron Dome and David’s Sling to counter projectiles from Hezbollah and the Houthis, while preserving its more advanced interceptor stockpiles. The result, officials said, was a significant drawdown of U.S. supplies while Israel maintained more of its high-end air-defense inventory.
Justin Logan, director of defense and foreign policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, said the dynamic appeared to conflict with Trump’s “America First” approach.
“Since Trump took office again, Israel’s position makes sense: our priorities first, our resources last,” he said. “Why Trump has tried to make this America First is less clear.”
Logan said earlier reports that the Pentagon had only about 25% of the Patriot air-defense inventory needed to meet existing U.S. defense plans should have served as a warning.
“Why this wasn’t a screeching siren to Trump officials is a mystery,” he said.