NEW YORK, October 16. /TASS/. The US military is facing a critical shortage of missile defense munitions, and the shortfall is expected to continue for another five years, according to multiple US officials familiar with the matter, CBS News reported.
According to the report, inventories of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors and Patriot missiles are expected to remain at critically low levels until 2030 due to shipments to Ukraine and the depletion of arsenals in the Middle East. It noted that during the Iran hostilities, the US military had expended up to 61% of its pre-war stockpile of PAC-3 missiles and approximately 82% of its THAAD interceptors, while new contracts take between 3.5 and 4.5 years to fulfill.
According to CBS News, defense contractor Lockheed Martin unveiled a plan to quadruple annual THAAD interceptor production from 96 to 400 units. US officials and industry experts estimate that even if no additional munitions are used, it will take at least five years to replenish stockpiles to December 2025 levels due to limited production capacity.