Published on 07/04/2026 at 22:32 Updated on 07/04/2026 at 22:57
Nearly 40 days after the start of the war, will the Americans run out of weapons? They have already fired more than 850 Tomahawk missiles at Iran in 2026, more than in the first two Gulf Wars. Are American reserves running out? France Télévisions takes stock.
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Bombing at an unprecedented rate. Already 13,000 American strikes on Iran, a bottomless pit that could run dry. Some Democratic senators are sounding the alarm. “With all the ammunition used for various objectives, in the seven conflicts that the president has involved America in, our stocks are low and well-known to the public,” Senator Mark Robert Warner warned.
Here is the Americans’ favorite weapon in the Middle East: the Tomahawk missiles. Long-range cruise missiles, extremely precise. The United States had about 3,000 of them. Nearly a third, 850, have already been used against Iran, while production is limited. The Pentagon will only receive an additional 190 this year. Not enough to replenish stocks or funds. Each Tomahawk fired costs $3.6 million. They often leave gray streaks in the sky over the Middle East.
To defend their bases, defend the Gulf countries, the Americans and their allies used 1,800 Patriot interceptor missiles, while only 700 will be produced in 2026. Donald Trump has asked defense industry to quadruple their production, but remains confident. “Fortunately, we have a lot. We have endless reserves of medium and long-range weapons. In the end, we have plenty, but we preserve what we can,” assured the American president to the press.
But according to experts, with this conflict the United States are mainly limiting their future ability to react: “We may have all the ammunition we need for this war, but what makes military strategists nervous is a potential conflict in the Pacific, in Asia. If something were to happen there, the United States would not have enough. Already, before this war, the stocks of long-range missiles were limited. Now it’s worse,” worries Colonel Mark Cancian from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Aware of this problem, Donald Trump wants to increase the defense budget to $1.5 trillion in 2027, an increase of nearly 50%, even if it means cutting other expenses such as health or education.
