Rapid pace of interceptor and precision-guided weapons use worries Trump admin.
The U.S. defense industrial base isn't equipped to produce missiles rapidly enough to replenish munitions used in the war with Iran, or transferred for use to Central Command.
Washington — The rapid pace at which the U.S. is expending some of its most advanced air-defense interceptors and precision-guided weapons in the Middle East is a point of great tension inside the Trump administration as President Trump's war with Iran ratchets up again, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials familiar with internal assessments.
And it's raising broader concerns about America's readiness for a potential conflict in the Indo-Pacific.
The dwindling stockpiles of defensive interceptors and long-range missiles have become a pressure point for top military and civilian leaders who are weighing the demands of the war with Iran against maintaining readiness to deter other adversaries, including China.
The U.S. officials, who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the topic, said the U.S. cannot sustain the rate at which it expended precision munitions early in the campaign against Iran.
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