Part 1: The U.S. Munitions Problem
by SWJ Staff
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05.11.2026 at 07:08pm
Part 1: The U.S. Munitions Problem Image
Tomahawk launch. Courtesy of US Navy/Reuters via The Wall Street Journal.
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The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) published a report in late April analyzing the status of U.S. munitions inventories following the 39-day air campaign against Iran. “Last Rounds? Status of Key Munitions at the Iran War Ceasefire” concludes that U.S. missile expenditure won’t constrain current operations, but significantly weakens preparedness for future wars. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported similar findings when the ceasefire began. In this four-part Discourse series, we comb through these reports for key numbers, themes and takeaways.
In the 39-day air campaign against Iran, the U.S. depleted seven types of critical missile stockpiles– “critical” because of the time it will take to rebuild their stocks and their centrality to a potential future conflict in the Pacific. Even before the Iran War, stockpiles of these weapons were deemed insufficient for a near-peer war. Now, this gap is more acute.
Here are the seven missiles in question:
https://smallwarsjournal.com/2026/05/11/part-1-the-u-s-munitions-problem/
