Israel informed the US this week that it is running critically low on ballistic missile interceptors as the conflict with Iran rages on, US officials told Semafor.
Israel had reportedly entered the current war already low on interceptors that were fired during last summer’s conflict with Iran. Israel’s long-range defense system has strained under Iran’s attacks; CNN reported that Iran was adding cluster munitions to its missiles, which may exacerbate the depletion of the stock.
The US has been aware of Israel’s low capacity for months, one US official said: “It’s something we expected and anticipated.”
This official emphasized to Semafor that the US is not running similarly low on interceptors of its own. That comment comes amid broader concerns about interceptor depletion from a longer military engagement in Iran leaving the US in a poor position.
It’s also unclear whether the US might seek to sell or share any of its own interceptors with Israel, which would pose its own strain on domestic supplies. The US has included missile defense assets in past provisions of military aid to Israel.
“We have all that we need to protect our bases and our personnel in the region and our interests,” the US official said, adding that Israel is “coming up with solutions to address” their shortage.
Israel has other ways to defend against Iranian missiles during the war, including via fighter jets, but the interceptors are among the most effective defensive weapons against long-range fire. Its Iron Dome missile defense system is designed to repel more short-range fire.
President Donald Trump said earlier this month that the US has a “virtually unlimited” munitions stockpile, although analysts have long said US stockpiles are lower than the military would like.
Last June, the US fired over 150 THAAD interceptors during the 12-day war with Iran, the Center for Strategic and International Studies found — believed to be around a quarter of US inventory at the time. The US is also believed to have used around $2.4 billion worth of Patriot interceptors in the first five days of this war, according to some reports.
In January, the Pentagon made moves to begin substantially increasing its production of the THAAD missile defense system. The US official said that the administration has plenty of THAADs and fighter jets, as well as mid-level interceptors.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told Semafor in a statement that the department “has everything it needs to execute any mission at the time and place of” Trump’s choosing.
In a statement after publication of this story, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Semafor that US stockpiles are “more than enough” to achieve Trump’s goals against Iran “and beyond.” She added that Trump is also always “focused on strengthening our Armed Forces and he will continue to call on defense contractors” to quickly build US-made weapons.
“The United States Military’s accomplishments alongside the Israel Defense Forces speak for themselves — Iranian drone attacks are down 95 percent, ballistic missile attacks are down 90 percent, and the regime’s dismal situation will only get worse,” she said.
The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Semafor.


I used to think my years of playing starcraft and command and conquer had nothing to do with actual war strategy and was just videogame shit.
Apparently “Expand your production before you attack so you have more facilities to replenish your army” and “Don’t attack a heavily entrenched position unless you have an overwhelming force and clear path to victory” are really important strategies that were lost when E-sports went into MOBAs.
Also TBH “When your enemy has the ability to hide units and delay the victory screen, don’t antagonize them before you win. It’ll make them more likely to do it just to spite you”
Iran please, let me micro a control group of shahed drones I’ll sacrifice my aching wrists for you.
As I learn more about actual war strategy, I find more and more that all the differences that I was assured would be there between Starcraft and the real thing were, actually, people being bad at Starcraft. You have to replace practicing your micromanagement with training low-level officers and that’s about it.
I suppose it would be pretty frustrating to have to worry about my units getting too drunk to fly… though dragoons and goliaths weren’t too far off
SMH, Trump didn’t even bother to construct additional pylons.
The fundamentals! Probes and pylons.
And scouting too, need to know what your enemy is planning and where they’ll attack from. And knowing when to turtle to build up your forces and resources. US military planners seem like they’re just pure bronze league.
Well, given their opponents of the last 50 years, that’s just where their ELO is at.
Sun Tzu being like, ‘don’t waste soldiers on useless attacks,’ ‘don’t make your troops fight looking into the sun,’ or ‘feed your soldiers’ seems really basic yet it’s still lost on the vast majority of armchair generals and a surprising amount of actual generals
What did sun zi say about IDF thirst traps
There’s six kinds of spies: inside, outside, converted, doomed, surviving, and in DMs
We need more gold!
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy: