US forces "used up virtually all" of their precision, long-range missiles during the course of the Iran war, and during the earlier heavy US-Israeli campaign of Operation Epic Fury, Reuters reported Tuesday.
This has raised serious "concerns about the military's ​readiness for future conflicts," informed sources told the outlet. In particular it is the Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) which are said to be running critically low.
US Army file image"Washington has used virtually all of these weapons," two sources told Reuters, after several media reports and think tank studies had already sounded the alarm over dwindling missiles amid both the Iran war and in the years-long process of supplying Ukraine. Low Patriot defense missile supplies have also been a persisting issue in the headlines.
They are costly and time-consuming in terms of manufacturing replacements. For example a single ATACMS munition costs about $1 million.
One immediate consequence could be that if heavy bombardment of Iran starts up again, the US would have to conduct riskier piloted aerial bombings - instead relying on longer range precision strikes afforded by the land-based systems at safer distances.
And another, somewhat obvious conse
