people don't know this:
The US Navy's overreliance on top missile interceptors
is 'unsustainable' in more intense fights, top admiral warns
Business Insider
7/15/25
July of last year.
They knew it a year ago.
Ignoring the reality we face
and just choosing to believe
what you want,
is just flat out stupidity.
- The US Navy has expended a lot of high-end ballistic missile interceptors in recent air defense operations.
- A top admiral told BI that this practice is "unsustainable" in high-tempo combat operations.
- Adm. James Kilby said cheaper alternatives are needed to preserve critical munitions stockpiles.
"The United States blew through about a quarter of its supply of high-end THAAD missile interceptors during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in June, according to two sources familiar with the operation, thwarting attacks at a rate that vastly outpaces production."
"US forces countered Tehran’s barrage of ballistic missiles by firing more than 100 THAADs (short for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) – and possibly as many as 150 – a significant portion of America’s stockpile of the advanced air defense system, the sources said. The US has seven THAAD systems, and used two of them in Israel in the conflict."
"Former US defense officials and missile experts told CNN that the rapid drawdown has also raised concerns about America’s global security posture and ability to regenerate supplies at speed.
"Last year, (2024) the US procured only 11 new THAAD interceptors and is expected to receive just 12 more this fiscal year, according to the 2026 budget estimates from the Department of Defense."
"The number of THAADs spent in the 12-day war was first reported by The Wall Street Journal."
(Just in case
you got something against CNN.
You got something against the WSJ too?)
"Despite the heavy use of THAADs during the 12-day war to help fend off Tehran’s assault last month, dozens of Iranian missiles still struck Israel."
"THAAD is a mobile system that can engage and destroy short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles both inside and outside of the Earth’s atmosphere during their final phase of flight. Each battery is operated by 95 American soldiers, armed with six launchers, and 48 interceptors. The interceptors are manufactured by Lockheed Martin and cost roughly $12.7 million, according to the 2025 Missile Defense Agency budget.
"The US plans to acquire 37 THAAD interceptors next year, according to the 2026 Department of defense budget estimates,..."
(This was written last year, so that is this year now. each system takes 48 interceptors, were not gonna get enough this year to refill one system...)
“The reports about THAAD expenditure are concerning. This is not the sort of thing that the US can afford to continue to do on and on,” he added. “It was a major commitment to our Israeli ally, but missile defense interceptor capacity is definitely a concern, and THAAD is a very scarce resource.”
(Our adversaries knew it.
Thats why they made us use them.)
"US interceptor stockpile concerns preceded the 12-day war, according to four former senior US defense officials who say that the problem is most acute in inventories of high-end interceptors that are a key part of deterrence against China."
"There are nine active THAAD batteries globally, according to manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The US military has seven of those and plans to have an eighth active by 2025,
(It has since been delivered.)
according to the Congressional Research Service. Data available in 2019 showed that five of the US’ THAADs were stationed at bases in Texas,
(See: Southern Route.
as it explains
why FIVE of those are in Texas.)
one in Guam and one in South Korea; by last year, the Pentagon had moved two of those batteries to the Middle East to protect Israel."
"Missile shortages and damage in Israel
While most of Iran’s missiles were downed by Israeli and US air defenses, experts, open-source data and video from the ground reviewed by CNN showed that dozens did manage to get through. Tehran’s success rate rose as the war raged on, amounting to some of the worst damage Israel has seen in decades."
(That is only going to get worse now.)
"Analysis conducted by DC-based think tank Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) estimated that THAADs – alongside Israel’s Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 interceptors – downed 201 of Iran’s 574 missiles, with 57 hitting populated areas. The report estimated that the US’ THAAD system accounted for almost half of all interceptions, indicating that Israel’s Arrow interceptor stockpiles were insufficient. Israel’s Iron Dome system was designed to deflect shorter-range rockets than those being fired by Iran."
“After burning through a large portion of their available interceptors, the United States and Israel both face an urgent need to replenish stockpiles and sharply increase production rates,” Ari Cicurel, author of the report, wrote, estimating that it would take three to eight years to replenish at current production rates."
(I keep trying to tell ya,
That is why Israel didn't wanna do this right now.)
"According to data compiled by JINSA, interception rates lagged as the war wore on. Only 8% of Iranian missiles penetrated defenses in the first week of the war. That doubled to 16% in the second half of the conflict and eventually culminated at 25% on the final day of the war before the ceasefire."
(That along with Centcom's forward operating secure communications hub
at our air base in Qatar being hit were the main reasons forthe reason
there was a ceasefire, DUH.)
"Analysts say there are several possible reasons for the trend, including an Iranian shift of focus from military targets to populated urban areas, where interception is less robust. Iran also fired more sophisticated missiles as the war progressed."
(Now they have more of them and they have more advanced capabilities than they did before.)
“(Iran) increasingly employed more advanced systems,” said Mora Deitch, head of the data analytics center at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). “These included newer missiles with multiple warheads or decoys, which may individually cause less damage but can overwhelm and saturate air defense systems.”
(They were saying:
"See what we got?
Keep this up and you will get a lot more of them in the future."
That future is here now.)
"Still missile defense analysts say they saw clear signs of air defense depletion. “The presence of the THAAD battery in the first place suggests that the Israelis don’t have a super deep interceptor magazine,” said Sam Lair, research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS)."
“Israel was relatively successful in defending (with the US assistance) against unsophisticated Iranian missiles – at the cost of depleting available arsenals of interceptors.”
(How many times you gotta say:
"That was the plan!")
"The problem for the US is especially acute in the Indo-Pacific where China has tried to keep the US navy at arm’s length, experts say."
“From a narrowly military standpoint, the Chinese are absolutely the winners in that these last almost two years in the Middle East have seen the US expend pretty substantial amounts of capabilities that the American defense industrial base will find pretty hard to replace,” said Sidharth Kaushal, senior research fellow at Royal United Services Institute."
(Keep trying to tell people it was part of the plan.)
"Ex-defense officials said dwindling defensive capabilities in the Indo-Pacific was a growing concern for the former administration of President Joe Biden as they used the US stockpile to battle Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
“God forbid there should be a conflict in the Pacific, for example, then it really will put a huge strain our missile capacity and the ability for our military to have the munitions necessary to keep up,” said one former senior Biden administration defense official with direct knowledge of the US campaign against the Houthis.
(It the whole reason they had us use them.)
"a conflict in the Pacific"
Thats next, count on it.)
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