Baku, August 1, AZERTAC
The Pentagon has requested $18.2 billion to replenish interceptor missile stocks, TASS reported citing Bloomberg.
According to the news outlet, the funding is part of a $67 billion emergency spending request for the current fiscal year.
The $18.2 billion proposal "focuses on high-profile weapons that lawmakers, Pentagon officials and analysts have said the US is running dangerously short of," Bloomberg said. Up to $5.75 billion would go toward THAAD interceptors, $5.57 billion toward additional Patriot Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptors, and $1.9 billion toward Standard Missile-6 systems. The Pentagon also plans to purchase Tomahawk cruise missiles and the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), which "was used in combat for the first time against Iran."
The New York Times earlier reported, citing sources, that US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine had privately warned that renewed major combat operations against Iran could dangerously deplete interceptor supplies available to the US Central Command. However, President Donald Trump dismissed the report, saying the military had "far more" munitions than it needed.