Iran said its war plans involved flooding US, Israeli defences with older drones and missiles to deplete the air defences before switching to more modern hypersonic missiles.
Phase one may just have ended for Iran with US and IDF stockpiles of air defence missiles dangerously low. Qatar has enough missiles for only a couple of days left.
The decision to bomb Iran with B 2 bombers may be a sign that the Pentagon is getting desperate and going to try and take out the hypersonic missile complexes by intense aerial bombing.
But such aerial bombing has been factored in by Iran since the US bombed Iraq. That is why they built vast underground bases to house their missiles.
As the next few days are set to see an escalation in the hot war, the economic war is already lost with gas prices and oil prices set to soar as the Strait of Hormuz closes.
Trump s claim to be able to defend oil tankers from Iran seems pretty delusional when the US cannot defend its own Centcom HQ in the Gulf states.
From media
It is still possible this dramatic decline may be an attempt to preserve stockpiles – but maintaining production will only become harder.
US and Israeli jets now have air supremacy over Iran. Most of Iran's air defences have been destroyed. It no longer has a credible air force. Centcom says the next phase of the war is focused on hunting down Iran's missile and drone launchers, its weapons stockpiles, and destroying the factories that produce them.
It may now be easier for the US and Israel to degrade Iran's ability to fight. But it'll be difficult to destroy all its weapons stockpiles.
Iran is a country three times the size of France. Weapons can still be hidden from the sky.
Recent history also shows the limitations of wars fought from the air. Israel's military has still not destroyed Hamas in Gaza after more three years of intensive bombing. Houthi rebels in Yemen survived a year-long US bombing campaign – as did some of their weapons.
CSIS expert Cancian estimates that the US may have stockpiles of around 1,600 Patriot missiles – which in recent days will have been depleted. While he says the US can keep the air-to-ground war going for a "long time", the air defence war is "more iffy".
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxzzqe82d2o
The Iran war’s troubling missile math
1418603 CNN Expansion D.C. 2023 - May 24-26, 2023 - Washington, D.C., Sean Lyngaas
Four days into war with Iran, at least one of the United States’ Gulf allies is already running low on crucial interceptor munitions used to defend against Iranian missile and drone attacks, two sources told CNN.
“It’s not panic yet, but the sooner they get here the better,” one regional source told CNN, referring to a request their government made to the US for more interceptors.
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He’s even dropped the bombshell that “the scandal is bigger than just one stupid man. It’s a whole system that tries to intimidate anyone who challenges it, issuing legal threats. I was shocked that the Palace would deny stories, known to be true. It reminded me more of a mafia than a royal family.”
“Even those who had very bad experiences with Andrew were reluctant to talk,” he pointed out.” Some came to me motivated by anger at how he treated others, not necessarily themselves. But his bad behaviour is well documented.”
https://www.thenews.com.pk/amp/1394532-king-charles-runs-a-mafia-not-a-royal-family-evidence-mounts-against-him-due-to-andrew
The Iranians do have the ability to make a lot of Shahed drones, ballistic missiles, medium range, short range and they’ve got a huge stockpile,” said Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly. “So at some point … this becomes a math problem and how can we resupply air defense munitions. Where are they going to come from?”
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Even a relatively short war can significantly deplete the American missile supplies: The US blew through about a quarter of its supply of high-end Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missile interceptors during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran last June, thwarting attacks at a rate that vastly outpaces production, CNN previously reported. The American-made THAAD mobile antimissile system launches from a vehicle, with eight interceptors per launcher vehicle.
