A Pentagon inspector’s report showed that the heavy use of ammunition during the United States’ four-month war against Iran created shortfalls in strategic stocks and strained the defense industry’s supply capacity.
According to the first report assessing the period from April 1 to June 30, production capacity and supply chain problems became more pronounced as weapons stocks were replenished. The Pentagon is working to accelerate procurement procedures and production schedules and is building stocks of critical materials, components and certain types of ammunition in order to respond more quickly to a possible new emergency.
Production bottlenecks persist
The report said that significantly increasing the defense industry’s production capacity would take considerable time. The most persistent problems involve the production of solid-fuel rocket motors, the supply of high-quality explosives and propellants, and the recruitment of skilled manufacturing workers.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth repeatedly denied reports that ammunition stocks had been depleted to the extent that they would restrict military options against Iran.
Trump said last month that the United States had large quantities of ammunition and that the country’s defense companies were building more facilities and factories than at any other time in their history.
Iran war costs $33.4 billion
The Pentagon calculated the war’s estimated total cost as $33.4 billion as of June 29. Of this amount, $22.3 billion corresponded to ammunition used, while $3.7 billion covered the cost of replacing lost equipment.
The calculation did not include infrastructure repair costs.
The White House requested $87.6 billion in emergency additional funding from Congress. Of the requested amount, $67.1 billion was allocated to the Pentagon, while $21 billion was earmarked specifically for ammunition.
Hegseth said the shortfalls could threaten the payment of military personnel salaries, the replacement of some equipment and ammunition, and the continuation of U.S. global operations.
U.S. military casualties
According to the report, seven U.S. service members were killed in combat and seven others died in noncombat incidents during the war the United States waged with Israel against Iran from February 28 to June 30. A total of 417 service members were wounded during the same period.
The report also said that four more U.S. service members were killed in combat in July.
