U.S. Is Running Out of Missiles Thanks to Trump’s War in Iran
American forces are no longer capable of supplying missiles to U.S. allies amid its war with Iran.Andrius Kubilius, the European Union’s defense and space commissioner, said Friday that the continent is facing a “huge challenge” in stepping up its defense production to adequately fill the gap left by the U.S. with regards to Ukraine.“It’s very clear that after the Iranian crisis ... it became more urgent for us in Europe to ramp up production of air defense and anti-ballistic missiles,” Kubilius said in Warsaw. “Americans really will not be able to provide enough of those missiles, both for the Gulf countries, for [the] American army itself, and also for Ukrainian needs.”For the winter season alone, Kubilius estimated that Ukraine needs 700 Patriot, PAC-2, and PAC-3 missiles, which he noted is “more or less equal to the number of missiles that American manufacturers are capable of producing in a year.”Polish defense minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz was in lockstep with Kubilius’s assessment, informing reporters Friday that the situation in Europe “is really critical.”“It is clear that we are going to have to develop our missile production very quickly and very urgently,” he said.Kosiniak-Kamysz noted that the U.S. will prioritize replenishing its stockpiles in the Middle East, adding to delivery delays to Europe, especially if the war drags on.Military officials have stressed since Sunday that fighting Iran has already drastically depleted America’s missile defense systems.In a closed-door meeting with lawmakers Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine reportedly said that Iran’s Shahed attack drones had proved a more difficult problem than initially predicted. One source told CNN that the U.S. has been “burning” through long-range precision-guided missiles.It’s not clear exactly how long the conflict is expected to go on. Per Trump’s own estimates, the war could rage for a few days, or several weeks, or “forever.”So far, six U.S. soldiers have been killed in the conflict, as have more than 20 Iranian officials, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Eighteen American soldiers have also been seriously injured. More than 1,200 Iranian civilians have been killed, including 176 children, dozens of whom were at a girls’ school in the country’s south.