Trump Orders New Investigations Into Pentagon Munitions

Move escalates president's response to reports of depleted munitions tied to Iran war President Trump has ordered new investigations into the disclosures of the Pentagon's munitions stockpile, administration officials said, an escalation of his effort to battle damaging revelations about the Iran war, The Wall Street Journal reported. Trump made the demand after weeks of media headlines describing depleted munitions levels associated with the war, according to administration officials, despite administration assurances that the U.S. has what it needs to fight Tehran and world powers such as Russia and China. The president's frustration with the war has grown, advisers say, as he sees few good options to force Iran into dismantling its nuclear program or more broadly bringing an end to the conflict. On August 5, Reuters reported , citing three people familiar with the data, that the U.S. Army has used up much of its global stockpile of highly accurate long-range missiles during its five-month war with Iran, raising concerns about the military's readiness for future conflicts. The missiles are principally the Army's surface-to-surface weapons, known as Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM). The U.S. ‌has used "virtually all" of these weapons, according to two of the sources. The degree to which the military is running out of ATACMS and Precision Strike Missiles has not been previously reported. The long-range munitions – which cost more than $1 million each – are an important part of the military's arsenal, allowing accurate strikes from a safe distance. U.S.-supplied ATACMS have played a key role in the war in Ukraine, allowing Ukrainian forces to attack targets inside Russia. The PrSM is a newer, more advanced generation that will replace the ATACMS, which have a shorter range. The dramatic rundown in precision, long-range missiles means Trump may ​have to rely more on riskier, piloted bombing missions if he relaunches large-scale attacks on Iran. The news agency said that the sources declined to tell how many of each munition the U.S. had left. Trump launched the Iran war jointly with Israel in February, predicting ​that the conflict would last a short time.