The Wall Street Journal reported on the 15th, local time, that as Iran's missile tactics evolve, the U.S. military is struggling as it rapidly depletes expensive air defense weapons.

According to the report, U.S. and regional officials familiar with the matter stated that the U.S. military fired more than 70 advanced air defense weapons during Iran's missile attack against Jordan on September 8 and 9.

According to some officials, the U.S. military fired roughly 60 to 70 Patriot interceptor missiles in response to the attack, which involved about 20 ballistic missiles.

Another official said the U.S. military also fired about a dozen THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) interceptor missiles.

Another official conveyed that this level of interceptor consumption is equivalent to the amount the U.S. military used over a week during other phases of the current conflict with Iran.

In particular, interception was reportedly made more difficult due to the nature of this attack.

According to multiple officials, Iran attacked the U.S. military with multi-warhead missiles that split into multiple bodies as they approached their targets.

The air defense network did not manage to block all of Iran's attacks either.

While there were no U.S. military casualties in last week's attack, an official stated that Iran succeeded in hitting fighter jets and other military aircraft at Jordan's Muwaffaq Salti Air Base.

Throughout the ongoing war between the U.S. and Iran, Iran's missile tactics are evaluated to have progressively evolved.

The Iranian regime has been found to deploy different types of missiles and utilize warheads with diverse flight trajectories and maneuvering methods in order to overwhelm U.S. air defenses.

Iran reportedly managed to bring back above ground some of the missiles it had hidden in underground facilities due to initial U.S. airstrikes in the war, and recently resumed production of new missiles by utilizing stockpiled parts.

On the other hand, Arab and U.S. officials reported that the U.S. and its allies are facing pressure in supplying regional interceptor missiles due to production bottlenecks.

While reports continue to emerge that U.S. forces in the Middle East are suffering from a shortage of interceptor weapons amid relentless offensives by Iran mobilizing missiles and drones, the U.S. Department of Defense has denied this.

Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesperson, rebutted, saying, "Reports that U.S. munitions are running low are entirely untrue," and adding, "The U.S. military remains the most powerful and capable fighting force in the world."

However, a recently published Pentagon Inspector General report suggested flaws in the U.S. military's current weapons supply system, stating that the war has "resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and exposed defense industrial bottlenecks related to ammunition replenishment."

Fabian Hinz, a researcher and Iran missile expert at the UK-based think tank Conflict Armament Research (CAR), explained that Iran's "new tactics show that it continues to adapt, learn, and experiment, checking which things work and which do not."

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