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Stockpile Strain
The U.S. war on Iran has significantly depleted the U.S. military’s weapons stockpile, with Al Jazeera reporting that the U.S. has expended half of at least four of its most critical munitions since the war began on February 28.
Al Jazeera said replenishing low stockpiles could take anywhere between several months and several years, and it quoted Brian Finucane, a former US Department of State adviser and analyst with the International Crisis Group, warning that “These are weapons that might be needed for any military contingency with China.”
In parallel, Defence Security Asia described a widening gap between the Pentagon’s public accounting and internal cost projections for Operation Epic Fury, which it said began on February 28, 2026, and noted that acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst told lawmakers in late April 2026 that direct costs stood near USD25 billion.
Defence Security Asia also said internal government estimates place the real figure between USD80 billion and USD100 billion, framing the discrepancy as a drain on America’s global force posture while the campaign continues.
Summit and Warnings
As President Donald Trump is scheduled to address a defence summit at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, The Globe and Mail reported that the war in Iran has reduced the U.S. supply of Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot and THAAD interceptors.
The Globe and Mail said the gathering is organized by Republican Sen. David McCormick and includes Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, with Trump expected to tout major investments in battlefield technology.
Al Jazeera reported that Trump threatened in a Fox News interview that aired on Tuesday: “We’re going to knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate,” as the U.S. re-ignited attacks on Iran after the April ceasefire.
Al Jazeera also said the U.S. escalated air attacks last week after Iran fired on three commercial ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, and it described retaliatory attacks by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on U.S. military assets in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.
What Comes Next
Al Jazeera said the conflict kicked off again after the U.S. Central Command launched heavy waves of attacks on Iran’s military sites last Wednesday, aiming to degrade Tehran’s military capabilities, and it reported huge, hourlong attacks continued for four nights since Sunday.
It added that Washington has reinstated a naval blockade on Iran-linked ships trying to transit the waterway and has re-imposed sanctions on Iran, while both sides traded low-intensity attacks throughout the ceasefire period.
Defence Security Asia warned that the munitions crisis represents an open wound in American strike-readiness that will shape procurement and deterrence credibility for years beyond the ceasefire, and it said munitions expenditure emerged as the single largest cost driver across every independent estimate.
The same analysis reported that the White House submitted an USD87.6 billion supplemental funding request to Congress on June 24, 2026, with USD67.1 billion earmarked for the Department of Defense to cover personnel readiness, munitions restocking, and classified programs tied to the Iran campaign.
