Congressional Budget Office: the war with Iran has badly depleted U.S. defensive missiles — replacement to cost $28 billion

The United States has consumed between half and two-thirds of the stocks of several key air-defense missiles in the war against Iran, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has revealed, the nonpartisan agency that provides cost analyses for American lawmakers.

According to the estimate, the consumption affects Patriot, THAAD, SM-3 and SM-6 missiles — the main systems the U.S. has used to protect its bases and allies in the Middle East from Iranian missiles and drones. The federal agency warns that rebuilding the depleted stocks will take years.

According to Reuters, replacing the defensive missiles will cost about $28 billion. The Budget Office says the depletion of the arsenal leaves the U.S. vulnerable to other threats, at a time when the Pentagon faces strategic ammunition shortages.

The findings come on the same day the Budget Office also published its estimate of the war’s overall cost: $38 billion so far, with a projected increase of $3 billion per month. Most of the costs stem from the rapid consumption of munitions, and the agency estimates it could take five years to refill the stocks.

The Pentagon report, published on Sunday by the Department of Defense’s inspector general, had earlier revealed that Iranian strikes damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings at U.S. bases in eight Middle Eastern countries, while the war — now in its seventh month — has cost at least $33.4 billion through June 29.

Source: Al Jazeera — aljazeera.com