https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/us/politics/iran-war-cost-military.html?unlocked_article_code=1.dVA.YSDN.qugKJRWy3qwq&smid=url-share

By Eric Schmitt and Jonathan Swan

"Commanders are concerned about the Pentagon’s shift of long-range precision weapons from the Asia-Pacific region to the Middle East, congressional officials say.

Since the Iran war began in late February, the United States has burned through around 1,100 of its long-range stealth cruise missiles built for a war with China, close to the total number remaining in the U.S. stockpile. The military has fired off more than 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles, roughly 10 times the number it currently buys each year.

... U.S. readiness in the Pacific was hurt earlier by the Pentagon’s deployment of warships and aircraft to the Middle East after the Israel-Gaza war began in October 2023 and after Houthi militia forces in Yemen started attacking ships in the Red Sea to support the Palestinians, the officials say.

.... The American ships and aircraft, as well as the service members working on them, are being pushed at what the military calls a high operating tempo. Even basic equipment maintenance becomes an issue under those grinding conditions..."