Acting US Navy Secretary Hung Cao told a Senate committee on Thursday that a pause on $14 billion in weapons sales to Taiwan was necessary to ensure sufficient munitions for Operation Epic Fury, the US military campaign against Iran launched on February 28.

Cao stated: 'Right now we’re doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury.' However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had previously declared the operation over, creating a contradiction between the two officials.

The Washington Post reported that the US fired over 200 THAAD interceptors and more than 100 SM-3 and SM-6 missiles to defend Israel during the 40-day Iran war, depleting about half of its THAAD inventory. In contrast, Israel used fewer than 100 Arrow and 90 David’s Sling interceptors.

A Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) report in April warned that the US had heavily used seven critical munitions, including over 1,000 of its estimated 3,100 Tomahawk missiles. Rebuilding to pre-war levels for these munitions will take one to four years.

Analysts say the depletion is factoring into Washington's calculations on resuming the war. Doha Institute professor Omar Ashour noted: 'Stockpiles are now part of the escalation calculus.'

CSIS stated that while the US has enough missiles for any plausible scenario in Iran, the risk lies in future wars. Long lead times, supply chain bottlenecks, and workforce constraints hamper rapid production, affecting not only the US but also Gulf allies relying on US-made defense systems.

Source: www.aljazeera.com