A general who has since been removed from his post had put military leaders on notice, in the period leading up to the onset of hostilities with Iran, that stockpiles of missile defence ammunition were running well below operational needs — a gap he assessed would take no fewer than five years to close, according to a broadcast outlet's Thursday report.

Briefings from several government insiders with direct knowledge of the matter indicated that a risk assessment prepared by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George had been incorporated into the Pentagon's Global Force Management Allocation Plan toward the end of December. Hegseth removed George from the post in April, a decision that came while hostilities with Iran were ongoing.

George indicated that inventories of both the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery and Patriot missile systems are projected to remain at reduced levels through at least 2030, a broadcast outlet reported. Three contributing elements shaped that conclusion, according to unnamed government officials: the reallocation of Patriot air-defence systems to Ukraine, ammunition drawn down during operations protecting Israel, and a contraction in domestic defence manufacturing output.

According to information passed to a broadcast outlet, the US military holds inventories of certain offensive weapons, including Joint Direct Attack Munitions and Small Diameter Bombs. One weapon running short on available inventory is the Patriot Advanced Capability-3, a ground-launched interceptor built to neutralise ballistic and cruise missiles before they reach their targets.

According to figures published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in April, procurement of Patriot PAC-3 systems typically involves a wait of more than three years between order placement and delivery. Producing a fresh batch of THAAD interceptors can take arms manufacturers upward of four years from contract award to delivery.

According to CSIS figures, roughly 2,300 Patriot interceptor missiles were thought to be in the US arsenal at the point when George put forward his assessment, ahead of the outbreak of the Iran war. Estimates place the number of air-defence interceptors consumed during the conflict with Iran at somewhere between 1,050 and 1,430 rounds, a draw-down that could account for as much as 61 percent of the stockpile that existed before hostilities began.

Figures from CSIS put the number of THAAD interceptors held in inventory before the war at roughly 355 units. Estimates place the number of those munitions deployed during the conflict at somewhere between 190 and 290, a range that would account for as much as 82 percent of the total stockpile.

Efforts by defence manufacturers to scale up output of THAAD and Patriot interceptors are under way, yet a government official told a broadcast outlet that inventory levels — even with no further draw-downs — are not projected to return to full capacity before 2030. In a statement to a broadcaster, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell pushed back against reports of munitions shortfalls, asserting that available stockpiles give the president the ability to order strikes at a time and location of his choosing.