March 10, 2026
Iran’s Cheap, Plentiful Weaponry Puts U.S. Military Under Unprecedented Strain
This article was originally published in Bloomberg.
When the first cruise missiles began detonating inside Iran, the strikes had all the hallmarks of previous successful U.S. military campaigns — unstoppable, overwhelming force delivered without warning.
U.S. forces have been forced to dig deep into inventories of expensive, hard-to-replace interceptors to counter the Iranian barrage.
But as the conflict extends toward a third week, the U.S. war effort is showing unexpected signs of strain against an adversary whose military budget is smaller than the GDP of Vermont — but which has an arsenal of missiles and drones unlike anything the U.S. has ever faced.
Read the full article in Bloomberg.
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