When the world's at stake,
go beyond the headlines.

The United States faces a challenge to maintain adequate stockpiles of missile interceptors amid rising demand and limited production capacity. The strain spans multiple systems. For example, concerns over dwindling Patriot interceptor inventories and the high usage rate of interceptors for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system drew attention this summer. The war in Ukraine has also helped drive concerns that U.S. interceptor inventories are insufficient. To better understand the challenge, we asked three experts: What should the United States do to address the shortage in interceptors? Read more below. Ankit Panda Stanton Senior Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Host of Thinking the Unthinkable for War on the RocksFixing the shortages in available interceptor magazine depth for regional missile defense systems will require work on several fronts. The most impactful approaches will require long-term efforts to surge production, improve supply chain efficiencies, and increase funding. While these are necessary, there are other interventions that can prove useful in the short-term — particularly in preserving the limited magazine depth that does exist and might be needed within a 24–36 month timeframe. For example, Congress could require a justification from the secretary of defense for any new deployment or reallocation of missile defense assets representing more than 5 percent of an available system’s magazine. In June, the United States spent down approximately 25 percent of its global interceptor inventory for the THAAD system to defend Israel amid Iranian missile attacks. Those interceptors are now no longer available for missions that may be a far higher priority for America’s strategic needs in the Indo-Pacific or Europe. Strategy demands resource management — as long as missile defense assets are treated as firefighting tools divorced from core strategic goals, the United States will remain likely to endure shortages.Mackenzie