The Pentagon’s inspector general said in its first report on the Iran war, released in mid-September 2026, that heavy use of munitions created “strategic inventory shortfalls” and exposed bottlenecks in the industrial base’s ability to replace them. The report covers February 28 to June 30.
It puts the war’s cost through late June at $33.4 billion: $22.3 billion for munitions, $3.7 billion in equipment losses and $7.4 billion in other expenses. The estimate excludes the cost of repairing damaged bases. The report doesn’t say how many weapons remain, and says the Pentagon is working to streamline procurement and shorten production lead times.
The findings conflict with public statements by President Trump, who has said US ammunition supplies are “virtually unlimited,” and by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who called reports of shortages untrue. A late-July estimate by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, cited by the BBC, found stocks of some interceptors, such as Patriot and THAAD, depleted by more than half in some cases.
