U.S. Vice President JD Vance personally contacted American military commanders in the Middle East, Europe and Asia to obtain an unbiased assessment of the course of the war with Iran, The New York Times reports, citing current and former administration officials.
According to the publication, during closed-door consultations in the spring and summer of 2026, military officials expressed serious concern to the vice president about the state of stockpiles of critical munitions, primarily interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems.
According to an assessment by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), since the start of the conflict the United States has expended about 65% of its pre-war stock of Patriot interceptors — from roughly 2,330 to 750–850 units by July 2026. Other sources estimate consumption at more than 1,000–1,430 interceptors, leaving fewer than 1,700 in the arsenal, while in some theaters of operations fewer than 100 Patriot missiles remained by the end of spring.
At the same time, stockpiles of other key systems have shrunk: according to CSIS, the United States has lost almost 80% of its THAAD stockpiles and a significant portion of its naval SM-3/SM-6 interceptors, and has also seriously reduced its arsenals of ATACMS, Tomahawk, JASSM and PrSM.
Commanders warned Vance that further transfers of weapons to the Middle East could weaken the United States’ ability to deter China, Russia and North Korea, since stockpiles of a number of critical munitions are at their lowest level in history.
Vance also requested detailed data on what remained in the commanders’ stockpiles and how additional shipments to the region would affect the global deterrence posture.
Despite announced accelerated production programs and new contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the production rates of interceptors are unable to compensate for consumption at the current level of combat intensity. According to NYT estimates, it could take more than two years to replenish Patriot stockpiles.
Reports of the depletion of Patriot and other missile stockpiles became one of the reasons for an internal leak investigation: about 50 employees of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were subjected to polygraph tests after publications about weapons shortages. Against the backdrop of these data, Vance, commenting on the prospects for ending the war with Iran, admitted that he could not name a timeframe for concluding the conflict.
