U.S. Admiral warns about America's war readiness as allies drain key air defense resources

Conflicts in the Middle East and Europe are taking their toll on U.S. weapons stockpiles and this could leave Washington wanting if Beijing kicks off a conflict in the Indo-Pacific according to one top American commander. 

On November 19th, the Head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Samuel Parparo warned that giving millions of dollars worth of air defense systems to Israel and Ukraine has had an impact on the nation’s war readiness. 

According to Parparo, the United States may not have the weapons it needs to respond in the Indo-Pacific if China launches an invasion of Taiwan because of what it’s sent to aid Israel and Ukraine in their wars. 

"With some of the Patriots that have been employed, some of the air-to-air missiles that have been employed, it's now eating into stocks,” Parparo explained when asked about the issue at an event according to Reuters. “And to say otherwise would be dishonest.”

Parparo went on to say that the expenditure of American air defense systems "imposes costs on the readiness" on the United States if Washington ever needed to respond to a situation in the Indo-Pacific, especially considering China’s near-peer military status. 

The wars in Ukraine and Israel have increased the strain on stockpiles of America's key weapons like air defense missile interceptors, something the Wall Street Journal reported on in late October 2024. 

According to the Wall Street Journal’s reporting, missile interceptors have become the most sought after munitions. However, the Pentagon does not publicly disclose how many interceptor missiles it has in its stockpiles. 

Some analysts aren’t just concerned about Washington’s dwindling stockpiles but also are worried about the fact that the United States hasn’t developed the infrastructure it needs to quickly manufacture replacements. 

“The U.S. has not developed a defense industrial base intended for a large-scale war of attrition in both Europe and the Middle East, while meeting its own readiness standards,” Elias Yousif—a Fellow at, and and deputy director of, the Conventional Defense Program at the Stimson Center— told the Wall Street Journal. 

Whatever the number of air defense munitions in Washington’s stockpile at the moment,  it isn’t enough according to Paparo, who explained in his recent remarks that he was not satisfied with what Washington had on hand. 

“We should replenish those stocks and then some,” Paparo said according to Defense. “I was already dissatisfied with the magazine depth. I’m a little more dissatisfied with the magazine depth,” the admiral added. 

Never miss a story! Click here to follow The Daily Digest.

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Hunini, Own Work, CC BY-SA 4.0