The US has already fired more than 850 Tomahawk missiles in the four-week war against Iran, and some Pentagon officials are alarmed by the speed at which stocks of the precision-guided munitions are being depleted.
Points of attention
- The US has already fired more than 850 Tomahawk missiles in the four-week war against Iran, raising concerns within the Pentagon about the dwindling missile stocks.
- The rapid decline in Tomahawk missile supplies has prompted discussions about potential redirection of missiles from other regions and the need for increased production.
The US wasted its Tomahawk stockpiles in the war against Iran
The Pentagon does not publicly disclose the number of missiles it has in its arsenal, but only a few hundred are produced each year.
Tomahawks are valued in part because they can fly more than 1,000 miles, eliminating the need for American pilots to enter enemy airspace.
U.S. officials said the heavy reliance on Tomahawks in a war against Iran would require urgent discussions on whether to redirect the missiles from other parts of the world, including the Indo-Pacific region, and on agreeing to produce more of the weapons.
WP sources noted that the Pentagon is tracking the number of Tomahawks used, paying increasing attention to what the speed of use of the missiles will mean not only in the war with Iran, but also for future military operations.
One official described the number of these missiles remaining in the Middle East as “alarmingly low,” while another noted that the Pentagon is nearing the end of its Tomahawk stockpile.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell did not answer questions about the number of Tomahawks — both those spent and those remaining in the Middle East.
At the same time, he emphasized that the US military "has everything it needs to carry out any mission at any time and in any place chosen by the president, and within any timeframe."
