Israel is ‘running critically low on ballistic missile interceptors’ amid Iranian bombardments, US officials claim.
The country was already low on interceptor stock as it came into the war following last June’s conflict with Iran in the 12 Days War, US officials said.
Its long-range defence system is under serious strain and now Iran is set to add cluster missiles to its armoury, CNN reported, potentially worsening the problem for Israel.
The US has known about the low capacity for months as one American official told Semafor: ‘It’s something we expected and anticipated.’
Stockpiles in the US are not running low, the official made sure to say amid concerns that long-term Iranian conflict could drain their stores.
It is not clear whether the US will sell or share these stockpiles with Israel, which could strain its domestic supplies. They have previously handed Israel interceptor missiles in military aid.
Israel is ‘coming up with solutions’ for their missile shortage, the US official said.
There are other ways to defend against Iranian missiles, like the use of fighter jets, but interceptors are among the most reliable weapons against these kinds of long-range strikes.
First responders stand near a crater and damaged cars in Holon, Israel after a strike today
Israel is running low on balistic missile interceptor stock. The Iron Dome (pictured) is designed for short-range fire
Israel’s Iron Dome is designed for short-range fire.
US stockpiles of interceptors are ‘virtually unlimited’ claimed president Donald Trump, but the veracity of this declaration has been called into question by analysts who have long said that supplies are lower than the military would like, the New York Times reported.
The US fired over 150 THAAD interceptors during the 12 Days War in June 2025 – around a quarter of its inventory at the time, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies found.
In the first five days of the current Iran War, the US reportedly already fired $2.4 billion worth of Patriot interceptors.
In January, the Pentagon began substantially increasing its production of THAAD missiles, Lockheed Martin announced, as the US Official said that they had plenty of them as well as fighter jets and mid-level interceptors.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said that the US has ‘everything it needs to execute any mission at the time and place of’ Trump’s choosing.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt assured that US stockpiles were ‘more than enough’ to defeat Iran ‘and beyond’. She said the president was making sure to keep ‘strengthening’ the Armed Forces, calling on defence contractors to quickly build more US-made weapons.
Iranian drone attacks are down 95 per cent and ballistic missile attacks are down 90 per cent, Ms Leavitt claimed, praising US-Israeli combat.
Trump sold 12,000 ‘BLU-110A/B general purpose, 1,000-pound bomb bodies’ to Israel last week. He bypassed Congress on this by citing the ’emergency’ Israel and the US face in the Middle East.
Nine people were killed in Beit Shemesh, near western Jerusalem, Israel, near the start of the war by Iranian strikes on March 1
The president has said the war should end ‘soon’ but added that both the US and Israel are prepared to fight for ‘as long as necessary’ for their aims to be reached.
Meanwhile, Iran told CNN last week that the country sees no option for diplomacy now and also said it was digging in for a long fight.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Iran’s ‘entire ballistic missile production capacity’ has been ‘functionally defeated.’
However, on Friday several sites in Israel were struck by Iranian cluster bombs, but no casualties were reported.
Trump struck military bases on Kharg Island this week but left key oil infrastructure intact. Israel is planning to expand its ground invasion of Lebanon.
