Israel conserved its air defense interceptors during the Iran war while the US expended significant portions of its stockpiles, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing anonymous US officials.
US forces used more than 200 THAAD interceptors, around half of the total stockpile, and over 100 SM-3 and SM-6 missiles, three officials told the outlet. Israel, by contrast, reportedly used only 100 Arrow interceptors and 90 David’s Sling interceptors, some of them against less advanced missiles fired from Yemen and Lebanon.
“The United States absorbed most of the missile defense mission while Israel conserved its own magazines,” the newspaper quoted Kelly Grieco, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center think tank, as saying. The figures suggest a “lopsided dynamic,” the WaPo wrote, although the Pentagon and the Israeli government both defended the balance of resources used.
The Pentagon has claimed less than $30 billion in direct spending, but skeptics say the cost of replacing spent munitions and lost assets, as well as the long-term impact on the US economy, could exceed $1 trillion.
While America’s interceptor stockpiles have dwindled and new production cannot keep pace with demand, Iran reportedly preserved much of its offensive capabilities. It has retained around 70% of its mobile launchers and missile stockpile, and regained access to 90% of the underground military facilities damaged by US-Israeli bombings, according to earlier US media reports.
Despite US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to resume the attacks unless Tehran accepts his peace terms, many observers suggest that the repeated extensions of the fragile April ceasefire show he is seeking an off-ramp from the increasingly costly and unpopular conflict. Israel, meanwhile, is reportedly pushing the US to finish the job while Iran is weak.
Tehran has confirmed that it is reviewing Washington’s updated proposals, but President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that “forcing Iran to surrender through coercion is nothing but an illusion.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said talks can succeed if the US ends its “piracy” against Iranian ships and agrees to release frozen funds, while Israel must end its war in Lebanon.