The USS Barry, a US Navy guided-missile destroyer, fires a Tomahawk cruise missile in the Mediterranean Sea. [US Navy]
The USS Barry, a US Navy guided-missile destroyer, fires a Tomahawk cruise missile in the Mediterranean Sea. [US Navy]

The commander of US Central Command said he has "absolutely no concerns" about American missile stockpiles for the war with Iran, pushing back against outside assessments that Tehran's strategy of forcing the US military to burn through its interceptor missiles has left reserves critically low.

Gen. Brad Cooper made the remarks in a preview clip released Sunday (local time) from an upcoming episode of CBS News' "60 Minutes." Asked how worried he was about the missile inventory situation, Cooper said, "We are well-armed and prepared for any contingency."

The host pressed Cooper, noting estimates that the US has used 45 percent of its Patriot interceptor missile stockpile and more than half of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missiles, and asking whether he had no concerns about future threats. "I'm not concerned," Cooper said.

The response amounts to a flat denial of outside assessments. Despite early assurances that the war with Iran would be brief, the conflict has stretched beyond six months. Iran has pursued a strategy of forcing the US military to expend as many weapons as possible defending its air defense networks, and reports indicate that stockpiles of key American weapons have fallen to serious lows.

The New York Times reported Thursday, citing current and former officials, that Vice President JD Vance had personally called US military commanders in the Middle East, Europe and Asia since this spring to assess battlefield conditions and gauge how the transfer of weapons to the Middle East was affecting deterrence against China, Russia and North Korea.

Some commanders at the time reported that Patriot stockpiles in certain regions had fallen below 100 rounds, and that inventories of the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, and the Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM, developed to replace it, had also dropped sharply.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimated that as of late July, the US military held between 759 and 827 Patriot missiles — down from roughly 2,330 before the war with Iran began, a reduction to about one-third of pre-war levels.

The Pentagon has been moving to address stockpile concerns by signing long-term contracts with defense manufacturers to expand output and accelerate delivery schedules. On Aug. 31, it signed agreements with General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin to increase production of key missile subcomponents supporting THAAD and the latest-generation Patriot interceptor, the PAC-3 MSE.

Despite those efforts, The Hill reported that rebuilding US core weapons stockpiles to pre-war levels would take at least several years.


kate01@heraldcorp.com