WP: USA Fired Over 850 Tomahawk Missiles at Iran

The US military has fired over 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Iran during the first four weeks of the war.

This was reported by The Washington Post, citing officials familiar with the situation.

According to them, this rate of use has raised concerns at the Pentagon due to the potential rapid depletion of stockpiles.

A significant portion of the Tomahawks were used in the early days of Operation Epic Fury to strike key Iranian targets. There are reports of the use of a previously unknown version of the missile.

One official described Tomahawk stockpiles in the Middle East as ‘alarmingly low,’ while another said that without intervention, the Pentagon is nearing the end of its supply of missiles needed for deployment in the region.

Department of Defense spokesperson Sean Parnell did not directly answer questions regarding the number of Tomahawk missiles expended or remaining in the Middle East, stating that the US military “has everything necessary to carry out any mission…”.

According to estimates by Mackenzie Iglan, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, the US Navy may have had between 4,000 and 4,500 Tomahawk missiles prior to the start of the war.

At the same time, other analysts believe that actual stockpiles may have been smaller—around 3,000 units. This is due to their active use in previous military operations.

Mark Kansian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted that the use of over 800 missiles for strikes on Iran could account for about a quarter of the available stockpile. According to his tank’s estimate, the US may have had about 3,100 missiles of this type at the start of the conflict. Replenishing the spent missiles, according to Kansian, will take several years.

The publication reported that the latest version of the Tomahawk can cost up to $3.6 million per unit. In recent years, they have been purchased in small batches. Only 57 missiles were included in last year’s defense budget.

Air Defense Missile Expenditures

The US military also fired over 1,000 interceptor missiles to shoot down Iranian air targets across the region. These include, in particular, ballistic missiles.

Patriot and THAAD air defense/missile defense systems were primarily used, and their missile stocks are also limited.