The US fired over $22 billion in munitions fighting Iran and created stockpile shortages in the process, watchdog finds

US forces fired much than $22 cardinal successful munitions fighting Iran this year, draining captious weapons stockpiles successful the process, a caller Defense Department watchdog study says.

The Pentagon inspector general's report, which was published Monday evening, estimated the costs of Operation Epic Fury, which began connected February 28, to beryllium $33.4 cardinal arsenic of June 29. That tally includes $22.3 cardinal for expended munitions.

The caller report, which offers a caller relationship of the war's financial impact, cites the munitions expenditure fig to the Pentagon's fund agency and said the estimate was based connected replacement costs.

Munitions expenditure during the warfare "has resulted successful strategical inventory shortfalls and revealed business guidelines bottlenecks for munitions resupply," the study said.

To reside the issues, the study said, the Pentagon "is moving to streamline procurement processes and accumulation lead times" and to stockpile captious materials, components, and munitions.

The White House and Pentagon activity person many times denied immoderate reports of munitions shortages during the Iran war.

Adm. Brad Cooper, caput of US Central Command, which oversees American subject operations successful the Middle East, told CBS News precocious that he was "not concerned" astir munitions inventories and said the US is "armed and fresh for immoderate contingency."

US forces struck much than 13,000 Iranian targets during the first fewer weeks of the conflict, employing costly missiles launched from combatant jets, warships, and ground-based launchers. American troops and assets besides fired high-end interceptors to take sides against Tehran's missiles and drones.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a US deliberation tank, assessed successful precocious May that American forces had already fired thousands of cruise missiles and rocket interceptors, draining pre-war stockpiles.

CSIS recovered that Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and definite cardinal interceptors — specified arsenic those launched from Terminal High Altitude Area Defense and Patriot batteries — would return years to return to pre-war inventory levels. These munitions costs millions of dollars apiece.

While the gait of combat operations has decreased importantly since May, the US continued to waste and acquisition strikes pinch Iran passim the summer, further straining captious munitions stockpiles.

The precocious complaint of munitions expenditure has raised concerns that the US subject whitethorn not beryllium sufficiently armed for a early conflict against a near-peer adversary specified arsenic China aliases Russia, peculiarly pinch respect to stockpiles of long-range and standoff weapons.

"Even earlier the existent war, galore analyses showed a request for larger munition inventories," CSIS experts wrote successful July. "Operation Epic Fury has exacerbated this munitions problem, and a multiyear rebuild now looms ahead."

The Pentagon inspector general's study besides recovered that the US mislaid $3.7 cardinal successful instrumentality during the war.

Dozens of US subject craft were damaged aliases destroyed, including combatant jets, refueling planes, combat drones, and helicopters. Some of the craft were struck by Iranian occurrence astatine their bases, while others were deed successful the aerial during combat sorties aliases brought down by friends forces.