Saudi Arabia’s stockpile of Patriot interceptor missiles has been reduced by 86% since the start of the war with Iran.
This was reported by Reuters.
In the 38 days of the war, the country has used up most of its stockpile of 2,800 PAC-3 interceptors, leaving approximately 400 at its disposal.
In light of this reduction, the U.S. government approved the sale of 5,250 missiles to Gulf countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
In addition, on July 29, representatives of the U.S. Army signed a contract with Lockheed Martin worth up to $58.6 billion for the production of Patriot interceptors, marking the largest order of its kind in the program’s history.
Contractors will fulfill the agreement over seven years to meet the needs of both the U.S. Armed Forces and foreign customers. However, despite the existence of these contracts, this production rate is insufficient.
The main bottleneck in the process is the homing head, which is manufactured at Boeing facilities at a rate of 500–650 units per year.
Currently, the company’s management is seeking to accelerate production. Specifically, in 2026, the company plans to increase output to 850 warheads per year. Additionally, Boeing specialists intend to triple the production of homing heads.
The increase in production capacity will help reach an output of approximately 2,250 units per year by 2028–2029 and exceed the target of more than 3,000 units after 2030.
Earlier, Militarnyi reported that, against the backdrop of the U.S. war with Iran, stockpiles of missiles for the Patriot systems had fallen to fewer than 1,000 units, while stockpiles of THAAD interceptors had dropped to approximately 250.
The Trump administration reflected this concern in its budget request, asking for $95 billion to purchase ammunition in 2027 and an additional $21 billion in supplemental funding.
For 2027, the plan is to deliver more than 3,000 missiles for the Patriot air defense system and about 800 missiles for THAAD.
Culled from militarnyi.com
