The US military's stocks of ammunition and missiles are severely depleted, a US senator warned on Sunday.
"I think it's fair to say it's shocking how deep we have gone into these magazines," Senator Mark Kelly told US broadcaster CBS News.
Kelly, a Democrat, said US President Donald Trump had drawn the United States into a war with Iran "without a strategic goal, without a plan, without a timeline, and because of that, we have expended a lot of munitions."
Kelly, a prominent member of the Armed Services Committee, cited Pentagon briefings detailing stockpiles of specific munitions, including Tomahawks, ATACMS, SM-3s and the munitions used in Patriot systems. It would take "years" to rebuild those stockpiles, he said, without providing specific figures.
Kelly warned that the US might not be able to defend itself in the event of a prolonged conflict. The US would then be "in a worse posture than we otherwise would be in if this war in Iran didn't happen. "
The Pentagon is currently seeking approval for a significant increase in defence spending.
The Trump administration's budget proposal for fiscal year 2027 envisages nearly $1.5 trillion in defence spending. Kelly described this as "outrageous," saying that the Pentagon's budget had stood at $700 billion when he joined the Senate five and a half years ago.
According to the Pentagon, the Iran war had cost the US approximately $25 billion as of the end of April. This figure represents estimated total expenditure since the US attacked Iran in late February. The largest share of that spending went on munitions.
