Updated · CSIS | Center for Strategic and International Studies · May 28
U.S. Faces 3-Year Missile Rebuild After 39-Day Iran War as $1.5 Trillion Budget Boosts Orders
Updated
Updated · CSIS | Center for Strategic and International Studies · May 28
U.S. Faces 3-Year Missile Rebuild After 39-Day Iran War as $1.5 Trillion Budget Boosts Orders
5 articles · Updated · CSIS | Center for Strategic and International Studies · May 28
Months to years will be needed to restore U.S. missile stocks depleted in the 39-day Iran campaign, with Tomahawk, THAAD and Patriot inventories not expected to return to prewar levels for three years or more.
More than 1,000 Tomahawks and 1,100 JASSMs were expended, while aid to Ukraine and earlier operations against Iran and its proxies further strained inventories and widened a vulnerability window for a possible Western Pacific conflict.
The Trump administration is responding with heavy procurement in its $1.5 trillion FY2027 defense budget, and a supplemental is expected to replace weapons used in Operation Epic Fury and build stocks above prewar levels.
Current production and lead times remain the main constraint: FY2027 Tomahawks would start arriving only in March 2030, THAAD deliveries in mid-2029, and Patriot deliveries in May 2029 despite planned factory expansions.
That slow refill is already forcing allocation tradeoffs with allies, potentially delaying orders for Japan, Saudi Arabia and others, while future deliveries to Ukraine could also be pushed back as U.S. demand takes priority.
With America prioritizing its own depleted arsenal, are its global allies now dangerously exposed to new threats?
Can America's peacetime industry transform fast enough to supply a military facing multi-front conflict risks?