US Interceptor Inventory Took Another Big Hit Last Week, As CBO Pegs War Cost At $38 Billion+
America's already-diminished inventory of air defense interceptor missiles took another significant hit last week, as dozens more were expended to defend US troops in Jordan from an Iranian attack. This latest incident illustrates Iran's use of crafty and increasingly technologically-advanced attacks to further sap US munitions supply and degrade the Pentagon's ability to continue mounting defenses -- or provoking attacks -- in a war nearing the seven-month mark.
The action unfolded on Sept 8, when Iran attacked US forces at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Azraq, Jordan. Unleashing what it called a "punitive operation" following the destruction of five Iranian oil tankers by the US military, Iran fired a volley of about 20 ballistic missiles at the base. No one was killed, but fighters and other aircraft positioned at the facility were damaged.
WATCH: Iran fired 20 ballistic missiles at the U.S.-hosting Al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan overnight.
— Clash Report (@clashreport) September 9, 2026
Dramatic Patriot launch footages show massive Patriot salvos, with OSINT counts estimating 60–100+ interceptors fired in minutes.
At $4–5M per PAC-3 MSE round, that's roughly… pic.twitter.com/bjmuHgydW6
To defend the air base, US forces fired 60 to 70 Patriot interceptors and more than dozen Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors, according to US officials who talked to the Wall Street Journal. Patriots cost the Pentagon about $4 million each, and the more sophisticated THAADs go for $12 to $15 million. That means the defense from this attack on a single target may have cost half a billion dollars or more.
The large expenditure of interceptors was driven by the complexity of the Iranian attack. Part of the strike package included missiles that, at high altitude, release multiple munitions. Over the course of the war, Iran has continued to enhance its already formidable missile capabilities, making warheads more maneuverable and giving some an ability to greatly accelerate before impact. “These types of new tactics that we’re seeing show that the Iranians continue to adapt, continue to learn, continue to experiment, see what works, what doesn’t work,” Conflict Armament Research's Fabian Hinz told the Journal.
News of the latest dent in the US war chest follows a report from the Pentagon's inspector general declaring that the war on Iran “has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply.” The IG report landed just after President Trump claimed "the United States is producing more Exquisite and Elite Weapons than at any time in our History. They are being delivered on a daily basis to our Forces in the Middle East, and beyond." (Retarded capitalization scheme is, of course, Trump's.)
Also this week, the Congressional Budget Office said the Pentagon spent $38 billion on this war of choice -- and that's only through Aug 1. CBO said it expects the meter to keep running at about $2 or $3 billion a month as long as the war goes on. Critically, CBO warned that its estimates were hampered by the Defense Department's refusal to respond to requests for information.
CBO's numbers do not account for a rebuilding of the many US bases in the region that have been hammered by Iranian fire and abandoned by US forces. To the extent this abandonment becomes prudently permanent, excluding that cost may make sense.
CBO further estimated that, as things stood back on Aug 1, it would take $22 billion to restock expended munitions -- attributing $7 billion to cruise missiles and $13 billion for air defense interceptors. “The shortfall would become especially problematic if a conflict arose with an opponent whose arsenal included large numbers of ballistic and cruise missiles,” the CBO reported.
“Claims of U.S. munition shortages are false,” said Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell. “We have everything required to strike at the time and place of the President’s choosing.” Of course, this is the same administration that falsely told us Iran was on the threshold of having a nuclear bomb.