2 min readNew DelhiMay 27, 2026 09:39 PM IST
The US military would need at least three years to refill their stock of three key weapons it used during the Operation Epic Fury launched against Iran in February along with Israel, an analysis by a Washington DC based think tank stated on Wednesday.
The analysis by the American think tank has raised concern that the US military would have restricted firepower in any future conflict with China, AP reported.
Depleted stocks: Tomahawks and missile defense systems
The three key weapons systems include Tomahawk cruise missiles, which are used to strike targets deep inside the territory of enemy and THAAD and Patriot interceptors, which defend against missiles and drones fired by enemy.
In its new report, the Center for Strategic and International Studies said, “The United States has enough munitions for any plausible scenario in the Iran war, but the depleted inventories have created a window of vulnerability for a potential Western Pacific conflict.”
The US think tank added, “The time needed to rebuild those inventories has thus become a major concern.”
Trump’s $1.5 trillion defense budget and bipartisan support
The report factors in US President Donald Trump’s administration’s defence budget proposal of $1.5 trillion for 2027, which would push for military spending on high end ammunition, a process which began during former President Joe Biden’s era.
In a boost for the Trump administration, there remains a bipartisan agreement in the Congress over stacking up the inventories. However, the report added, “the problem today isn’t money; it’s time.”
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Industrial challenges: The struggle to expand capacity
The think tank stated, “It takes time to expand production capacity and to build these complex systems,” adding that the window of vulnerability for the United States will remain “for several years until inventories return to their previous levels and another several years before they get to the levels that war planners desire,” AP reported.
President Trump and US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have stated earlier that America is capable of fighting any war. The administration has even pushed the contractors to swiftly manufacture the high end ammunition.
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