War on Iran: US and Israel “burning through” missiles supplies

Amid the US-Israeli war on Iran and the escalating Middle Eastern arms race, the US and Israel are reportedly “burning through” Tomahawk missiles and interceptor missile supplies, according to the Middle East Eye via the Washington Post on March 27th.

Since February 28th, the US has fired over 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles, despite only producing hundreds of missiles annually; a Pentagon official said the supply is “alarmingly low.”

Figures from a British security think tank, RUSI, found that US-Israeli forces expended 11,294 munitions within 16 days of February 28th, costing approximately $26 billion.

On March 5th, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth expressed support for the war on Iran to his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz.

The US approved the sale of munitions worth $151.8 million to Israel on March 6th, forgoing the mandatory congressional review required for large arms sales.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar rejected claims on March 15th that there were missile interceptor shortages; reportedly, Israel’s defence systems were already depleted following 2025 strikes on Iran.

Similarly, it was reported on March 22nd that the Israeli military was investigating the apparent failure of its air defence systems to intercept Iranian missiles in Dimona and Arad.

US-Israeli defence ties have continued despite concerns that defence contractors are complicit in war crimes amid Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Israel’s defence cooperation is not limited to the US, as several European countries have also continued arms exports to Israel since 2023.

Companies, including Elbit Systems and Rafael, operate in Europe, with Eurospike, a Rafael subsidiary, signing a deal in October 2025 to supply the German military with anti-tank missiles.

Serbia’s arms exports to Israel have reached record levels since 2023, with the Serbian Ministry of Trade stating that ammunition was sold to Ta’as Ma’arachot, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems.

Under the Abraham Accords, Israel has normalised ties with Arab countries; in January, it reached a defence partnership with Morocco.

Israel-made arms were used by Thailand’s military in its border clashes with Cambodia; Thailand announced its purchase of the Barak MX air defence system from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) on December 4th.

On February 25th, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed defence cooperation with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, during his state visit, where he also addressed the Israeli Knesset.

Middle East Eye via Washington Post, Maghrebi.org