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Media: Number of Patriots used against Iran exceeds annual production twofold

11 March 2026 10:57 (UTC +04:00)

The US and its partners in the Gulf most likely burned through well over 1,000 PAC-3 interceptors alone, APA reports, citing Bloomberg.

That’s almost twice the annual production of the weapons and more than the US and its allies have supplied to Ukraine since the Russian invasion four years ago, according to Kyiv. Officials there have been astonished at Gulf states deploying PAC-3s to bring down low-cost drones.

But almost two weeks into the conflict, the US war effort is showing unexpected signs of strain against an adversary whose military budget is smaller than the GDP of Vermont — but which has an arsenal of missiles and drones unlike anything the US has ever faced.

“It’s a race to see will our inventories get low before the Iranian missile inventories get low,” said Mark Cancian of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

US officials insist that’s a contest Iran can’t win, but every day that Tehran’s weapons continue to threaten populations, military bases and oil installations across the Middle East, they ratchet up the political pressure on the White House.

Ilgar Khudiyev

Patriot missiles Iran air defense systems missile defense military technology Middle East tensions US defense systems missile production global security