In the wake of the recent 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran, a new report reveals the United States used nearly a quarter of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor stockpile to support Israeli air defenses.
The extensive deployment of these advanced munitions underscores the staggering cost of modern missile defense and the speed at which U.S. inventories can be depleted in large-scale engagements.
According to The Wall Street Journal, which cited defense officials familiar with the matter, the U.S. military fired over 150 THAAD interceptors during the June conflict.
These interceptors are part of one of the United States’ most advanced ballistic missile defense systems and are designed to shoot down high-altitude threats with precision. The report also notes that Navy ships launched approximately 80 Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptors in support of the operation.
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The deployment came amid a barrage of missile attacks exchanged between Iran and Israel, prompting the United States to intervene on Israel’s behalf.
This rapid and heavy use of costly interceptors has raised alarms about the sustainability of current air defense strategies.
The high-end interceptors, while highly effective, are also exceptionally expensive and produced in limited quantities.
The United States operates seven THAAD systems, each managed by the U.S. Army under the Missile Defense Agency's guidance. The agency has budgeted for 646 interceptors, though not all have been acquired yet.
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With over 150 used in just one short conflict, nearly a quarter of the projected arsenal was consumed in less than two weeks of combat.
The THAAD system was first deployed to Israel in October 2024, with a second unit redirected from the Pacific theater in the spring of 2025 due to increasing tensions with Iran. Each system requires around 100 personnel to operate.
In addition to THAAD, several Patriot missile batteries were also employed during the conflict, including in the defense of Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which came under Iranian missile attack on June 23.
“The high usage of THAAD and SM-3 interceptors is the latest instance of the U.S. military expending a high amount of expensive munitions to take out cheaper weapons from adversaries,” the Journal noted, reflecting broader concerns within defense circles.
Indeed, this is not the first time the Pentagon has faced this cost imbalance. During the initial Red Sea conflict between the United States and Yemen—from the fall of 2023 to early 2024—the U.S. Navy launched nearly 400 missiles, including variants of SM-2, SM-3, and SM-6, to intercept missiles and drones.
The problem, defense officials say, is that the weapons they’re firing often cost millions of dollars, while many of the drones or missiles they’re targeting can cost as little as a few thousand.
This cost asymmetry is becoming a defining feature of modern asymmetric warfare. Sophisticated interceptors like the SM-3 or Patriot missiles can range from $3 million to over $10 million apiece, while many Iranian and proxy drones or missiles are relatively cheap to produce and deploy.
While the U.S. Department of War continues to explore less expensive alternatives to address this growing concern—such as directed-energy weapons and electronic warfare systems—current realities still rely heavily on conventional high-cost interceptors.
In the meantime, the strain on the Pentagon’s missile stockpile is raising new questions about readiness, sustainability, and procurement pacing.
On the naval front, the June conflict also marked a notable operational milestone. “The SM-3s were used in combat for the first time last spring, when the U.S. previously stepped in to provide air defense assistance for Israel against Iran,” the Journal reported.
That inaugural use of SM-3s in actual combat situations now appears to have become a more regular feature of U.S. intervention strategy.
As tensions in the Middle East show no sign of abating, military planners face an increasingly complex dilemma: how to maintain effective defense postures without exhausting costly resources at an unsustainable pace.
The Iran-Israel conflict served as a vivid reminder that in modern warfare, the ability to defend can be as logistically and financially challenging as the capacity to attack.
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