🇺🇸🇮🇷🇨🇳 Former U.S. Navy Admiral Mark Montgomery says the real casualty of the Iran war might not be in the Middle East at all, but America's ability to fight China. Reports claiming some weapons are nearly exhausted can be misleading because certain systems, like PrSM, were produced in very small numbers to begin with. But he says the real concern is different. The U.S. has burned through roughly half its stockpile of long-range precision strike weapons, including Tomahawks and JASSMs, while Patriot and THAAD interceptor inventories have fallen dramatically. According to Montgomery, that's enough to affect planning for a future war with China or Russia. The problem isn't today's fight, but the next one. He argues Congress and the Pentagon are finally placing massive orders for new missiles, but replenishing those stockpiles won't happen anytime soon. Rocket motors, complex supply chains, and years of underinvestment mean production can't simply be switched on overnight. Even with record funding, rebuilding America's arsenal could take 3 to 4 years. Montgomery says that's the strategic vulnerability. Meanwhile Ukraine is already absorbing the shortfall. Montgomery says Kyiv hasn't received a Patriot in 8 months, and the same munitions gap now shaping Iran policy is quietly reshaping what's left for Europe America's military is being defeated not on the battlefield, but by colliding with the limits of its own industrial base. That's a problem money alone can't solve quickly. @MarkCMontgomery @WeTheBrandon
