The US war against Iran is probably far from over. Now the USA must significantly increase its arsenal of cruise missiles.
Apr 5, 2026, 11:01 amApr 5, 2026, 11:01 am
Tobias Schibilla / t-online
The USA is preparing further missions against Iran and is relocating a large part of its cruise missiles, which are particularly difficult to intercept, to the Middle East. This is reported by the US news portal “Bloomberg”. The focus is therefore on JASSM-ER cruise missiles, which can hit targets from a great distance.
According to a person familiar with the process, an order was given at the end of March to withdraw these missiles from stocks in the Pacific region. Additional weapons from US warehouses and other locations are to be brought to US Central Command bases in the Gulf region or to Fairford in Great Britain.
According to the report, only around 425 JASSM-ERs would remain worldwide from a pre-war inventory of around 2,300 for other areas of operation. Around 75 other cruise missiles are currently not operational due to damage or technical problems.
An important precision weapon for the USA
The JASSM-ER is one of the US armed forces’ most important long-range precision weapons. According to the information, it can fly more than 600 miles, i.e. almost 1000 kilometers. It was developed in order to be able to hit targets even when the enemy’s air defense makes direct attacks difficult. It is precisely this distance that makes the weapon particularly relevant for operations against well-protected targets.
According to the report, more than 1,000 of these missiles were deployed in the first four weeks of the war. Together with the shorter JASSM version with a range of around 250 miles (approx. 402 km), around two thirds of the US inventory was committed to the war against Iran.
This shows how much of an impact the conflict is having on American stocks of modern long-range weapons. Such systems are also considered important for other possible trouble spots, such as in the Indo-Pacific. It is hardly possible to replenish stocks quickly: According to “Bloomberg”, the planned production rate of the longer JASSM-ER version for 2026 is 396 units. At full capacity, production could increase significantly, but replacing used rockets would still take years.