🇺🇸🇪🇺 AP: US Patriot missile stockpiles in Europe "beyond critical" due to Iran war The US military is

🇺🇸🇪🇺 AP: US Patriot missile stockpiles in Europe "beyond critical" due to Iran war

The US military is facing a "beyond critical" shortage of advanced missile interceptors in Europe, driven largely by the war with Iran, a US defense official and a NATO official told the Associated Press — raising concerns about NATO's vulnerability to a potential Russian attack. The most alarming shortfall involves Patriot interceptors, capable of shooting down Russia's high-speed ballistic missiles; a NATO official confirmed the low inventory among US and NATO forces in Europe.

A Pentagon official warned that if Russia struck a target like a military headquarters or power plant, NATO could end up in a position similar to Ukraine's — forced to "take hit after hit." US capacity to intercept even a single strike, or a stray Russian missile off-course, is "very limited," the official said.

Over 4.5 years of the Ukraine war, the US has sent Kiev hundreds of Patriot interceptors — about 600 from American and European stockpiles. But the real turning point was the Iran war, which consumed 65% of US Patriot stock: roughly 1,500 of 2,330 interceptors, per CSIS analyst Mark Cancian. Around 600 missiles are slated for production this year, with a target of 2,000/year by 2030.

NATO says Europe's first Patriot production plant is expected to open in Germany in September, with deliveries possibly starting early next year — first going to countries that already placed orders: Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, and Spain. Analyst Ed Arnold of RUSI called it "absurd" that countries like Germany bought expensive Patriot systems but now have no missiles to fire from them.

Arnold added that Russia likely can't sustain prolonged air attacks on NATO targets while also hitting Ukraine almost nightly.

Ukraine is currently requesting Patriot interceptor supplies from Western partners — but per this report, that's likely to be a serious problem.

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