Iran war has led to US munitions shortfalls, Pentagon inspector confirms

The BBC has contacted the White House for comment about the discrepancy.

A late July estimate from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS, found that stocks of some interceptors - such as the Patriot missile and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD - were significantly depleted, in some cases by more than half.

The inspector general's report did not disclose exactly how many of the weapons remain. It did, however, note the inventory shortfalls and reveal "industrial base bottlenecks" for munitions resupply.

The report added that the defence department is now working to "streamline procurement processes and production lead times" to address the shortages and "respond rapidly to a contingency". Trump and other administration officials have sought to cast reports of shortages as false and "treasonous" .

In a 4 August X post, for example, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth described news reporting on the shortages as "not true". Among the losses have been four F-15e fighter jets, a highly advanced F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and 30 MQ-9 drones destroyed in "various circumstances".

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