General Discussion

drray23

(8,695 posts) Sun Mar 1, 2026, 08:01 PM 19 hrs ago

What if we run out of patriot missiles?

So Iran is firing all their missiles and drones. We have anti missile and drone defenses on our bases, the Israeli also have a sophisticated defense system. I recall that during the last salvo between Israel and Iran, we had to quickly supply Israel because they were running out. On more than a few occasions , missiles slipped through defenses.

Now, you also have to content with drones. Small fast and inexpensive that can be produced and launched by the thousands.

Iran is one of the biggest drones countries.

What are the odds than in a week from now, we start seeing real damage to our bases or other places?

I don't think the Trump regime is smart enough to have planned for it.

5 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

What if we run out of patriot missiles? (Original Post) drray23 19 hrs ago OP

Lets see lapfog_1 18 hrs ago #1

media theory - iran limiting firepower til trump has used most of our interceptors, then...... bang! msongs 18 hrs ago #2

We blew up the largest drone factory in Iran in the first strike. Melon 17 hrs ago #3

US troops in Iran racing against the clock before running out of ammo: report LetMyPeopleVote 2 hrs ago #4

Very good question. It depends on the Iranian stockpile of missiles. harumph 56 min ago #5

lapfog_1

(31,832 posts)

1. Lets see

Reply to drray23 (Original post)

Sun Mar 1, 2026, 08:11 PM

18 hrs ago

a. The Russians will have fewer drones to fire at ukraine
b. Ukraine will have fewer patriots to defend against Russian missiles.
c. The Price of oil is about to sky rocket
d. The Russians will get some of their economy back on track because of oil prices skyrocketing.
e. I guess we will be rapidly importing as much oil from Venezuela as possible ( yet to be seen how much that really is given the state of their oil wells and pumping facilities ).
f.. Now we can focus the real enemy... Greenland ( and Canada ).

( oh, those Epstein files just disappeared from the news! )

Need I even add...

msongs

(73,459 posts)

2. media theory - iran limiting firepower til trump has used most of our interceptors, then...... bang!

Reply to drray23 (Original post)

Sun Mar 1, 2026, 09:03 PM

18 hrs ago

Melon

(1,342 posts)

3. We blew up the largest drone factory in Iran in the first strike.

Reply to drray23 (Original post)

Sun Mar 1, 2026, 09:22 PM

17 hrs ago

Everything can of course exist in limited quantities.
Iran’s Air Force has no chance at all. I will shed a tear as they lose the last of their f-14’s.
It’s missiles and drones for Iran but they don’t have an ability to resupply as the US strikes their production.
They were shipping drones to Russia and antiaircraft munitions to Venezuela. Plus they fired a lot during the bombing of their nuclear facilities. Iran could be potentially not have good stocks.

LetMyPeopleVote

(178,161 posts)

4. US troops in Iran racing against the clock before running out of ammo: report

Reply to drray23 (Original post)

Mon Mar 2, 2026, 01:03 PM

2 hrs ago

U.S. troops in Iran are staring down a difficult situation in the wake of strikes that killed Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a new report.

U.S. troops in Iran are staring down a difficult situation in the wake of strikes that killed Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a new report.
— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-03-02T03:00:14.654Z

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-iran-2675514870

U.S. troops in Iran are staring down a difficult situation in the wake of strikes that killed Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a new report.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that U.S. troops are racing to destroy Iran's ballistic and nuclear missile facilities before they run out of interceptors to defend from Iranian retaliatory strikes. The exact size of the military's ammunition base is classified, but analysts and former officials who spoke to The Journal said the stockpile has been diminished after repeated conflicts in the region.

At the same time, military troops are working to fend off a series of retaliatory strikes from the Iranians. U.S. Central Command said on Saturday that they mounted a "largely successful defense against hundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks," according to the report.

“One of the challenges is you can deplete these really quickly,” Kelly Grieco, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, told The Journal. “We’re using them faster than we can replace them.”

Troops are also running low on sea-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles and aircraft-launched weapons following the operation last year to take out Yemen-based Houthi militants, according to the report.

“Eventually it boils down to numbers,” Jonathan Conricus, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies told The Journal. “How many interceptors will we have versus how many launchers will they be able to field and fire.”

harumph

(3,191 posts)

5. Very good question. It depends on the Iranian stockpile of missiles.

Reply to drray23 (Original post)

Mon Mar 2, 2026, 02:14 PM

56 min ago

If we run out and they still have plenty, then things are really fucked. IOW, if they have enough stock to consistently
"volley" high value targets and we run out of interceptors- then those targets will be hit. This was/is a known issue that
the pentagon under Whiskey Pete has ignored.

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