Minister Pete Hegseth of the U.S. Ministry of National Defense (War Department) dismissed concerns about a shortage of ammunition stockpiles in connection with the operation for military strikes against Iran, Epic Fury.
On the 5th (local time), Minister Hegseth held a news conference at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, home to U.S. Central Command headquarters, saying, "We are not short on ammunition," and added, "Stockpiles of defensive and offensive weapons will allow us to sustain operations as needed."
He added, "Iran expects we will not be able to sustain this operation, but that is a grave miscalculation by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)," and "America's resolve is never weak."
Minister Hegseth emphasized, "Our ammunition is full, and our resolve is ironclad," and, "Even if it takes time for the United States to achieve these objectives, it means our timetable is ours alone to control."
However, contrary to these assertions, doubts had previously been raised that U.S. interceptor missile inventories are being depleted rapidly.
Mark Cancian, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a U.S. think tank, said, "Roughly 1,600 Patriot missiles that the United States was estimated to have stockpiled may have been nearly exhausted over several days."
On the 3rd, there were also reports that government officials from the Trump administration said in a closed-door briefing for U.S. federal lawmakers that "with the current air-defense network, it will not be possible to intercept all of Iran's drones."