US Has Used Nearly All Its ATACMS and Up to 80% of Its THAAD Interceptors, Reports Say

The US military has expended nearly all of its Army long-range precision missiles and a substantial share of its ballistic missile interceptor stocks during five months of war with Iran, according to two separate reports published on August 4, 2026. The Pentagon and the White House dispute the figures.

Reuters, citing three people familiar with the inventory data, reported that the Army has used "virtually all" of its M-39 ATACMS and of its newer Precision Strike Missile. The same reporting put Patriot interceptor expenditure at roughly 65 percent between February and July, THAAD stocks at least 38 percent below their pre-war level, and Tomahawk consumption at a little less than half the global supply.

CNN, citing multiple people familiar with the latest inventory report, placed the THAAD drawdown considerably higher: close to 80 percent of the interceptor inventory, alongside roughly half of the Patriot stock, since the war began on February 28. It put Tomahawk expenditure at close to half, against about 30 percent when it last reported the figure in April, and quoted senior commanders describing overall reserves as "dangerously low."

The two accounts agree on the direction of travel and on the ATACMS and PrSM depletion, but not on the depth of the THAAD drawdown. Neither set of figures has been confirmed officially, and both rest on anonymous sources rather than published inventory data.

The replacement arithmetic is slow against the pre-war baseline. The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated the United States held about 2,200 Patriot rounds in the two most modernized variants and 452 THAAD interceptors before the war. CNN's sources cited monthly deliveries of roughly 15 Tomahawks and 20 Patriot missiles, more than three years to return THAAD reserves to their pre-war level, and mid-to-late 2027 for PrSM and JASSM.

Officials pushed back hard. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the US military "has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the President's choosing." White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said it has "more than enough munitions, ammo, and stockpiles to serve all of President Trump's strategic goals and beyond." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth went further, saying on air that a CNN broadcast banner carrying the 80 percent figure was "NOT TRUE." President Donald Trump has said the country holds "far more munitions than anyone in the world."

The reports land days after two contracts aimed squarely at the same shortfall. On July 29 the Army converted a one-year PAC-3 order into a seven-year agreement worth up to $58.6 billion, the largest Patriot interceptor deal ever placed. On August 3 the Department of War awarded Northrop Grumman a $3 billion framework agreement for solid rocket motors meant to triple PAC-3 MSE output and quadruple THAAD production.

Munitions are not the only inventory the campaign has drawn down. GlobalMilitary.net's Iran conflict tracker has logged 129 aircraft destroyed since February 28, 60 of them uncrewed. The United States, which sits first in the ranking of the world's strongest militaries, has been drawing on stockpiles sized for a short, high-intensity campaign rather than a five-month one.

According to CNN, the state of those stockpiles was one factor in the decision last weekend to call off further strikes on Iran, after Gulf allies warned of retaliation. Neither report gave a date by which interceptor inventories would be restored.