{"id":1615,"date":"2026-03-06T08:39:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T08:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1newsnetwork.com\/?p=1615"},"modified":"2026-03-06T16:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T16:25:09","slug":"concerns-us-weapon-stockpile-may-not-last-but-hegseth-denies-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/06\/concerns-us-weapon-stockpile-may-not-last-but-hegseth-denies-this\/","title":{"rendered":"US attack on Iran cost an estimated $779 million on the first day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>More than 3 000 precision-guided munitions and interceptors were used in the first 36 hours of the US-Israeli attack on Iran, revealing a major weakness in the supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Estimates by the Payne Institute indicated that Iran launched over 1 000 weapons across the region, including around 380 ballistic missiles, 700 Shahed drones, and 50 air defense missiles, prompting large-scale interception attempts by the US, Israel, and Gulf countries that have been targets of Iranian retaliatory attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the opening phase of the campaign, US forces used a wide range of weapons, including 210 JDAM precision-guided bombs, 120 Tomahawk cruise missiles, 120 low-cost drones, and 90 AGM-88 anti-radiation missiles targetting Iranian radar systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Israeli forces also conducted extensive strikes, using about 280 Spice-guided bombs, 140 smart bomb kits, 70 Rampage supersonic missiles, and 50 Delilah cruise or loitering missiles, according to the estimates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed alignleft is-type-wp-embed is-provider-real-news-real-impact wp-block-embed-real-news-real-impact wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"d9Wsvleoot\"><a href=\"https:\/\/1newsnetwork.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/03\/iranian-foreign-minister-says-rubio-admitted-us-entered-war-of-choice-for-israel\/\">US faces weapon shortage as both sides up the ante in Middle East war<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;US faces weapon shortage as both sides up the ante in Middle East war&#8221; &#8212; REAL NEWS,REAL IMPACT\" src=\"https:\/\/1newsnetwork.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/03\/iranian-foreign-minister-says-rubio-admitted-us-entered-war-of-choice-for-israel\/embed\/#?secret=u6vMP0icNP#?secret=d9Wsvleoot\" data-secret=\"d9Wsvleoot\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Defensive systems were also heavily used to intercept Iranian attacks. The US fired approximately 180 SM-2\/SM-3\/SM-6 naval interceptors, 90 Patriot PAC-2\/PAC-3 missiles, and 40 THAAD interceptors, while Israel deployed 70 Iron Dome Tamir interceptors, 40 Arrow missiles, and 35 David&#8217;s Sling interceptors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regional partners also participated in air defense efforts, with Gulf states launching about 250 Patriot PAC-3 interceptors and 30 THAAD missiles, the estimates showed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The intense exchange of missiles and drones underscored a broader strategic challenge, according to media reports. While defensive systems have largely intercepted incoming attacks, the cost and volume of munitions used are placing significant strain on Western supply chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Replenishing these arsenals is not only a financial challenge, but also a supply-chain issue tied to critical minerals, including cobalt, tungsten, and rare earth elements that are essential for guidance systems, electronics, and rocket engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many of these materials are sourced from limited suppliers, with China dominating several key mineral markets, raising concerns that prolonged conflict could expose vulnerabilities in Western defense manufacturing capacity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;Death and destruction from the sky. All. Day. Long.&quot;<br><br>You can tell how much Pete Hegseth got off from saying that.<br><br>This is depravity. The worship of violence.<br><br>Evil.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dN8RGUgr4o\">pic.twitter.com\/dN8RGUgr4o<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/owenjonesjourno\/status\/2029259001771266483?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 4, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has responded to a growing view that the US arms stockpiles is running low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hegseth claims the US has sufficient munitions to sustain its ongoing military campaign against Iran, rejecting suggestions that American forces could face shortages as the operation continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Several analysts have questioned the US stockpile due to the multiple fronts being opened by the US and its allies its supplies with weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking at the US Central Command (CENTCOM) headquarters in Tampa, Florida, alongside CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper on Thursday, Hegseth said Iran&#8217;s leadership had miscalculated if it believed Washington could not maintain the pace of operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIran is hoping that we cannot sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation for the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) in Iran,\u201d Hegseth said. &#8211; AA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More than 3 000 precision-guided munitions and interceptors were used in the first 36 hours of the US-Israeli attack on Iran, revealing a major weakness in the supply chain. Estimates by the Payne Institute indicated that Iran launched over 1 000 weapons across the region, including around 380 ballistic missiles, 700 Shahed drones, and 50 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,205,168],"tags":[233,242,23,24,19],"class_list":{"0":"post-1615","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-conflict-zones","8":"category-secondary-story","9":"category-world","10":"tag-hegseth","11":"tag-israeliranwar","12":"tag-trump","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-war-crimes"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1615"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1620,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1615\/revisions\/1620"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}