Bloomberg: US warns allies of missile delivery delays due to shortage

The US has warned allies to expect delays of as much as five years in key weapons deliveries as it rebuilds its own depleted munitions stocks, Bloomberg reports.

Multiple European nations are expecting deliveries of key missile and air defense capabilities to be pushed back as a result of the US military exhausting its own arsenal in the Iran war, officials said.

Germany has asked the US to speed up delivery of the long-range Tomahawk cruise missile and the ground-based Typhon launcher, but depleted US stocks of the powerful weapon means its manufacturer, RTX Corp.’s Raytheon, is unlikely to fulfill the order in the next five years.

Two other officials said some Eastern European nations also reliant on US weapons systems have experienced delays since soon after the US and Israel launched a war against Iran on Feb. 28.

The Defense Department didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.

The Pentagon’s decision to prioritize its own stockpiles is also straining Ukraine’s push for the US to send it more Patriot air defense interceptors ahead of what is expected to be a difficult winter for the war-torn nation.

The US is estimated to have used more than half of its most advanced Patriot missile variants, a third of its Tomahawk missiles and almost half of its precision strike missiles and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, interceptors in Iran. The Congressional Budget Office said the US had probably used as much as two-thirds of its inventory of missile defense interceptors since June 2025.

The military fired so many munitions at Iranian targets during the first few months of the war that it “has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply,” Pentagon officials acknowledged to its inspector general.

Officials are now working to stockpile critical components and selected munitions, as well as streamline production lead times, the watchdog office said in a report released this week.

Defense firms are ramping up production, with Lockheed Martin Corp working to increase annual capacity from around 600 to 2,000 of the most advanced PAC-3 MSE, or Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement.

The stockpile shortages aren’t just impacting the US and Europe. In April the US told Japan its Tomahawk deliveries would be delayed by as much as two years. Saudi Arabia has also urged allies, including the US, to provide military support to help counter attacks from the Houthis in Yemen. Washington has not said if it will provide extra assistance.

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