
美国已耗尽七种主力导弹库存,人们愈发担心未来战争可能面临弹药短缺的“风险”。
本周美国战略与国际研究中心发布的分析报告称,与伊朗开战仅七周,美国已动用45%的精确打击导弹库存;50%的“萨德”(THAAD)末段高空区域防御拦截弹库存;以及近半数“爱国者”弹道导弹拦截弹。
报告指出,美国目前仍有足够导弹支持在伊朗战争中不受限制地作战,但美军为未来太平洋战争准备不足的风险急剧上升。该报告由美国海军陆战队退役上校马克·坎西安和战略与国际研究中心研究员克里斯·帕克撰写。报告称,在伊朗冲突爆发前,美军弹药库存已捉襟见肘。战略与国际研究中心估计,将七种主力弹药补充到战前水平需要一到四年时间。
报告称:“战前库存本已不足,按如今库存水平,一旦未来冲突爆发必将掣肘美军行动。”
国防开支飙升
过去两个月,美国与多家国防公司达成协议,加速扩充弹药储备。五角大楼表示,已向霍尼韦尔航空航天投入5亿美元多年期投资,用于“大幅增产美国弹药库存的关键部件”。特朗普已申请2027财年1.5万亿美元的国防预算,五角大楼称这是二战以来国防开支同比最大增幅。
《财富》根据战略与国际研究中心数据测算,美军迄今已在七种主力弹药上花费约240亿美元,不过对伊战争总耗资预计将远超这一数字。公共政策专家,哈佛大学肯尼迪学院(Harvard Kennedy School)讲师琳达·比尔梅斯表示,政府低估了基础设施损毁的短期成本,以及数千名退伍军人终身伤残津贴等长期支出,战争成本可能超过1万亿美元。
分析数据与特朗普的说法相悖。冲突开始时他曾表示,中端和中高端弹药库存“从未如此充足,状态如此良好”,还称此类武器“供应几乎无限”。
五角大楼首席发言人肖恩·帕内尔在发给《财富》的声明中称,美军“拥有在总统指定时间和地点执行任务所需的一切装备”。
“特朗普总统上任以来,我们已在各作战司令部成功执行多次行动,确保美军拥有强大的装备储备,以保护美国人民和国家利益,”他表示。
弹药开支引担忧
比尔梅斯等专家担忧的是,美国在弹药上的支出与伊朗不成比例。据路透社报道,伊朗的“沙赫德”无人机单架成本在2万至5万美元之间,而用于拦截无人机或更复杂空中威胁的“爱国者”拦截弹成本可能高达约400万美元,因为需要更复杂的技术支撑。
“不仅成本高昂,更陷入成本严重失衡困境,因为拦截弹成本远超无人机,”比尔梅斯告诉《财富》。
“爱国者”导弹如今是抢手货,除了美国还有18个国家在使用。这场战争期间,美国已向乌克兰和其他盟友提供了600枚该型导弹。尽管洛克希德·马丁公司预计到2030年将PAC-3 MSE的年产量提高到2000枚,不过战略与国际研究中心分析师表示,美国必须更谨慎分配现有导弹库存以及每年600枚的交付量。战略与国际研究中心的分析指出,部分战略家主张美国为对华战争储备“爱国者”导弹,但乌克兰也正请求美国追加弹药援助,其他盟友也在求购该导弹。
战略与国际研究中心指出,五角大楼有AIM-120等替代型空对空导弹,然而造价同样昂贵,每枚成本达100万美元。面对廉价拦截弹短缺的局面,美国和海湾国家已改用直升机和固定翼飞机实施拦截。资源受限已令部分美国官员担心,美国如何持续保障弹药供应。
3月,亚利桑那州民主党参议员马克·凯利在接受 CNN 采访时表示:“伊朗有能力大量制造‘沙赫德’无人机,中短程弹道导弹,而且库存庞大,所以归根到底……最后会变成数学题,我们的防空弹药如何补充?补给从何而来?”(财富中文网)
译者:梁宇
审校:夏林
美国已耗尽七种主力导弹库存,人们愈发担心未来战争可能面临弹药短缺的“风险”。
本周美国战略与国际研究中心发布的分析报告称,与伊朗开战仅七周,美国已动用45%的精确打击导弹库存;50%的“萨德”(THAAD)末段高空区域防御拦截弹库存;以及近半数“爱国者”弹道导弹拦截弹。
报告指出,美国目前仍有足够导弹支持在伊朗战争中不受限制地作战,但美军为未来太平洋战争准备不足的风险急剧上升。该报告由美国海军陆战队退役上校马克·坎西安和战略与国际研究中心研究员克里斯·帕克撰写。报告称,在伊朗冲突爆发前,美军弹药库存已捉襟见肘。战略与国际研究中心估计,将七种主力弹药补充到战前水平需要一到四年时间。
报告称:“战前库存本已不足,按如今库存水平,一旦未来冲突爆发必将掣肘美军行动。”
国防开支飙升
过去两个月,美国与多家国防公司达成协议,加速扩充弹药储备。五角大楼表示,已向霍尼韦尔航空航天投入5亿美元多年期投资,用于“大幅增产美国弹药库存的关键部件”。特朗普已申请2027财年1.5万亿美元的国防预算,五角大楼称这是二战以来国防开支同比最大增幅。
《财富》根据战略与国际研究中心数据测算,美军迄今已在七种主力弹药上花费约240亿美元,不过对伊战争总耗资预计将远超这一数字。公共政策专家,哈佛大学肯尼迪学院(Harvard Kennedy School)讲师琳达·比尔梅斯表示,政府低估了基础设施损毁的短期成本,以及数千名退伍军人终身伤残津贴等长期支出,战争成本可能超过1万亿美元。
分析数据与特朗普的说法相悖。冲突开始时他曾表示,中端和中高端弹药库存“从未如此充足,状态如此良好”,还称此类武器“供应几乎无限”。
五角大楼首席发言人肖恩·帕内尔在发给《财富》的声明中称,美军“拥有在总统指定时间和地点执行任务所需的一切装备”。
“特朗普总统上任以来,我们已在各作战司令部成功执行多次行动,确保美军拥有强大的装备储备,以保护美国人民和国家利益,”他表示。
弹药开支引担忧
比尔梅斯等专家担忧的是,美国在弹药上的支出与伊朗不成比例。据路透社报道,伊朗的“沙赫德”无人机单架成本在2万至5万美元之间,而用于拦截无人机或更复杂空中威胁的“爱国者”拦截弹成本可能高达约400万美元,因为需要更复杂的技术支撑。
“不仅成本高昂,更陷入成本严重失衡困境,因为拦截弹成本远超无人机,”比尔梅斯告诉《财富》。
“爱国者”导弹如今是抢手货,除了美国还有18个国家在使用。这场战争期间,美国已向乌克兰和其他盟友提供了600枚该型导弹。尽管洛克希德·马丁公司预计到2030年将PAC-3 MSE的年产量提高到2000枚,不过战略与国际研究中心分析师表示,美国必须更谨慎分配现有导弹库存以及每年600枚的交付量。战略与国际研究中心的分析指出,部分战略家主张美国为对华战争储备“爱国者”导弹,但乌克兰也正请求美国追加弹药援助,其他盟友也在求购该导弹。
战略与国际研究中心指出,五角大楼有AIM-120等替代型空对空导弹,然而造价同样昂贵,每枚成本达100万美元。面对廉价拦截弹短缺的局面,美国和海湾国家已改用直升机和固定翼飞机实施拦截。资源受限已令部分美国官员担心,美国如何持续保障弹药供应。
3月,亚利桑那州民主党参议员马克·凯利在接受 CNN 采访时表示:“伊朗有能力大量制造‘沙赫德’无人机,中短程弹道导弹,而且库存庞大,所以归根到底……最后会变成数学题,我们的防空弹药如何补充?补给从何而来?”(财富中文网)
译者:梁宇
审校:夏林
The U.S. has depleted its store of seven major types of missiles, intensifying concerns of a “near-term risk” it will run out of munitions for a future war.
The Pentagon has used at least 45% of its stockpile of Precision Strike Missiles; 50% of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors inventory; and almost half of its stockpile of Patriot ballistic interceptor missiles—all within the first seven weeks of war with Iran, according to an analysis published this week by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Though the U.S. has enough missiles to continue to fight in the Iran war without limitations, there is an increased risk of the U.S. military being insufficiently prepared for a future war in the Pacific, noted the report, authored by Mark Cancian, a retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel, and Chris Park, a CSIS research associate. Prior to the conflict in Iran, munitions stockpiles were already drained. CSIS estimated it would take one to four years to restock the seven major munitions to prewar levels.
“The diminished munitions stockpiles have created a near-term risk,” the report said. “A war against a capable peer competitor like China will consume munitions at greater rates than in this war. Prewar inventories were already insufficient; the levels today will constrain U.S. operations should a future conflict arise.”
Ballooning defense spending
In the past two months, the U.S. has brokered deals with defense firms to bolster its munitions, including Honeywell Aerospace, which will “surge production of critical components for America’s munitions stockpile” following a $500 million multiyear investment, according to the Pentagon. President Donald Trump has requested a $1.5 trillion defense budget for fiscal 2027, which the Pentagon described as the largest year-over-year jump in defense spending since World War II.
Using data from the CSIS report, Fortune calculated the U.S. has so far spent about $24 billion on the seven major munitions used, but the cost of the Iran war is projected to far exceed that sum. Public policy expert and Harvard Kennedy School lecturer Linda Bilmes said the cost of the war is likely to exceed $1 trillion, as the administration underestimates the short-term costs of infrastructure damage, as well as long-term costs, such as lifetime disability benefits for thousands of veterans.
Data from the analysis runs counter to the narrative of President Donald Trump, who said at the beginning of the conflict the medium- and upper-medium-grade munitions stockpiles have “never been higher or better” and the U.S. has a “virtually unlimited supply” of these weapons.
Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told Fortune in a statement the military “has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the President’s choosing.”
“Since President Trump took office, we have executed multiple successful operations across combatant commands while ensuring the U.S. military possesses a deep arsenal of capabilities to protect our people and our interests,” he said.
Munition spending concerns
Of concern to experts like Bilmes is the U.S.’s disproportional spending on munitions compared with Iran. Iran’s Shahed drones each cost between $20,000 and $50,000 to produce, per Reuters, while a Patriot interceptor used to shoot down drones or more complex aerial threats could cost about $4 million, as it requires more sophisticated technology to function.
“Not only are the costs high, but we have these in this imbalanced situation where costs are disproportionately high compared to the cost of producing drones,” Bilmes told Fortune.
The Patriot is a particularly sought-after missile, with 18 other countries using it in addition to the U.S., which has given 600 of them to Ukraine and other allies over the course of the war. Though Lockheed Martin expects to increase production of the PAC-3 MSE to 2,000 annually by 2030, CSIS analysts said the U.S. will have to be more judicious in how it allocates its current supply of the missiles, as well as its annual deliveries, which it currently puts at 600 a year. While some strategists have advocated for the U.S. stockpiling Patriot missiles in case of a war with China, Ukraine has also requested additional munitions from the U.S., the CSIS analysis noted. That’s in addition to other U.S. allies similarly seeking the missiles.
According to CSIS, the Pentagon may have alternative air-to-air missiles, including the AIM-120, but they are similarly expensive at $1 million. The U.S. and Gulf states have resorted to using helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft with guns as a solution to limited inexpensive interceptors. The limited resources have left some U.S. officials worrying about how the U.S. will continue supplying itself with munitions.
“The Iranians do have the ability to make a lot of Shahed drones, ballistic missiles, medium-range, short-range, and they’ve got a huge stockpile,” Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly told CNN last month. “So at some point … this becomes a math problem, and how can we resupply air defense munitions? Where are they going to come from?”