Munitions for Iran Strikes Ran $5.6B in First Two Days
People watch as smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo)
The initial wave of US strikes on Iran reportedly used an estimated $5.6 billion in munitions over just two days, three officials told Congress on Monday. The figure is raising concerns on Capitol Hill about how quickly advanced weapons stocks are being drawn down, the Washington Post reports, along with renewed questions from lawmakers about the effect on military readiness. President Trump’s administration has consistently downplayed these worries, and a Pentagon spokesperson told the Post that the military has “everything it needs to execute any mission at the time and place of the President’s choosing and on any timeline.”
Officials said the White House plans to request a supplemental defense funding package, potentially worth tens of billions of dollars, to support ongoing operations. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine noted that the campaign is moving from costly precision munitions toward more plentiful, less expensive laser-guided bombs as US and Israeli forces advance inland after achieving air dominance. Analysts say this shift could cut the cost per strike from millions of dollars to under $100,000 in some instances. The Pentagon is also redeploying high-end air defense assets from other regions, including parts of a THAAD system from South Korea and Patriot interceptor stocks from the Indo-Pacific and elsewhere.
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