After the Iran-Israel Conflict, America Now Faces a THAAD Missile Supply Crisis

Defence affairs - WSJ

The US military reportedly launched more than 150 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor missiles during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June 2025, raising serious concerns about the Pentagon's increasingly depleted missile defense capabilities.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal , citing US officials, THAAD operators deployed with Israeli forces fired the interceptor missiles at a very high rate to intercept a wave of ballistic missiles launched by Iran against Israeli cities and strategic infrastructure.

The large-scale use of interceptor missiles represents nearly 25 percent of all THAAD missiles ordered and received by the Pentagon to date, according to US Department of Defense procurement records.

“Working with the Israeli system, THAAD operators launched missiles at an incredibly rapid rate, releasing more than 150 missiles to intercept waves of Iranian ballistic missiles,” the report said.

Such a high launch rate highlights the strategic need for a multi-layered defense system, but at the same time it also reveals the logistical and industrial burden that any modern military force must bear in an intensive conflict.

With each missile costing up to USD12.7 million (RM59.5 million), the THAAD system developed by Lockheed Martin is capable of intercepting missiles in high-altitude airspace, especially short- and medium-range ballistic missiles in their terminal phase.

However, the process of replacing spent ammunition is extremely slow and expensive due to the complex supply chain, low annual production rates, and limited budget allocations from the United States Congress.

In 2024, the Pentagon acquired only 11 THAAD interceptor missiles and is expected to add only 12 more by the end of 2025.

At the current rate of acquisition, the United States is expected to only add 25 to 37 THAAD missiles by 2026—meaning a full stockpile recovery period could take between three and eight years.

The 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel marked the largest combat use of THAAD in history and exposed how fragile US air defense munitions are in the face of a massive missile attack.

Although the United States operates seven THAAD batteries around the world, including in South Korea, Guam and the US mainland, only two batteries were delivered to Israel at the height of the war and that number proved insufficient to deal with the number of Iranian missiles.