The US administration has expressed serious concern that a possible public disclosure of the exact number of US air defense missile stocks directly threatens the country's national security.
Tensions escalated after a report by the authoritative publication The Wall Street Journal, according to which Washington has paused planned large-scale air strikes against Iran precisely because of concerns about a critical depletion of interceptors for the Patriot and THAAD systems.
However, President Donald Trump reacted sharply and categorically denied claims that the US military lacks ammunition to wage a potential full-scale war with Iran. In an official statement to the same media, Trump emphasized: “We have far more ammunition than anyone else in the world and far more than we need“. The head of state called the rumors of shortages “shameful” and assured the public of the unlimited capabilities of the American military-industrial complex.
Despite the reassuring words from the White House, internal Pentagon sources reveal that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Kaine, personally informed Trump about the accelerated reduction of air defense reserves. According to military experts quoted by Al Jazeera, the nearly five-month-long conflict in the Middle East has forced the US to launch a huge number of interceptors against Iranian ballistic missiles, which calls into question long-term combat readiness in other strategic regions.
For the time being, Washington is relying on diplomatic maneuvers through the mediation of the Persian Gulf states to provide breathing space for logistical regrouping.