PENTAGON REPORT REVEALS US MUNITIONS SHORTFALL AFTER IRAN WAR

A report by the Pentagon's inspector general has told Congress that the war with Iran left the US military short of ammunition and advanced weapons. It said "Operation Epic Fury" cost an estimated $33.4 billion (€29 billion) between 28 February and 30 June, with $22.3 billion spent on munitions. The report said the scale of weapons used had caused "strategic inventory shortfalls" and exposed bottlenecks in resupplying US forces. Posting on Truth Social, President Donald Trump repeated that the military's ammunition supplies are "virtually unlimited" and that the US was producing "more exquisite and elite weapons than at any time in our history".

The report detailed losses including four F-15 fighter jets destroyed, one F-35 damaged, and seven KC-135 tanker aircraft damaged or destroyed. Iranian munitions hit five of the tankers on the ground in Saudi Arabia, it said. Up to 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones, valued at around $30 million each, were destroyed. US Central Command said it struck more than 1,000 targets in the war's first 24 hours. One report said the military had "nearly exhausted 80%" of its stock of THAAD air-defence interceptors.

Experts have estimated it could take around three years to restore stocks of advanced missiles and interceptors to pre-war levels. The report documented damage to US bases from Iranian strikes in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan, with hundreds of buildings damaged or destroyed. The cost of repairing those facilities is not included in the $33.4 billion estimate. It remains unclear whether they will all be rebuilt or who will pay. The Pentagon has maintained that the US military has the weapons it needs to fight any conflict.