U.S. used 'virtually all' of its long-range precision missiles during Iran war

America’s pricey missile stash may be nearly empty, and the comments are brutal

TLDR: Reports say the U.S. has used nearly all of some of its most valuable long-range missiles in the Iran war, raising fears about how ready it would be for another major conflict. Commenters are split between disbelief, mockery, and warnings that modern wars burn through expensive weapons fast.

The big headline is already dramatic enough: reports say the U.S. has burned through almost all of its top long-range strike missiles during the war with Iran, despite earlier promises that the fight would be quick. These are the expensive, high-accuracy weapons used to hit targets from far away, and they reportedly cost more than $1 million each. The White House insists everything is fine and says America still has more weapons than anyone else. But the comment section? Oh, the comment section is not buying the calm voice.

Over on the community thread, the mood swings between disbelief, panic, and full-on roast mode. One commenter basically asked, how do you even begin to process this mess? Another zeroed in on the core fear: if a country this rich and military-heavy can get stretched by one war, what happens in a bigger crisis? That sparked the hottest argument of all — whether this shows a real weakness in modern warfare, where flashy missiles are powerful but insanely expensive, hard to replace, and not something you can spam forever.

And then came the sharpest digs. One commenter compared the U.S. to Russia: feared until the world finally saw the receipts. Another pointed out the weird logic of talking about China and Russia taking advantage of a weakened arsenal while barely mentioning Iran, the country currently getting bombed. In short, readers saw a scary supply warning and turned it into a chaotic mix of budget anxiety, war skepticism, and meme-worthy side-eye.

Key Points

  • The article says the U.S. Army has used much of its stockpile of long-range precision missiles during a five-month war with Iran.
  • Two sources cited in the report said the U.S. has used "virtually all" of its ATACMS and Precision Strike Missiles.
  • The report says dwindling supplies have raised internal concerns about U.S. readiness to deter or respond to crises involving adversaries such as Russia and China.
  • A source said U.S. Central Command nearly exhausted its prewar land-based missile inventory but replenished from stockpiles elsewhere in the world.
  • The White House and Pentagon said the U.S. retains sufficient military capability, while analysts cautioned that even record munition production may be insufficient for a prolonged war.

Hottest takes

"same fate as Russia where they where feared for their military until they used it" — BadBadJellyBean
"should be able to join two large scale conflicts at the same time" — Squarex
"one glaring weakness of relying too heavily on missiles" — wongarsu
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