Panic inside the Pentagon after staggering report lays bare Tomahawk missile crisis as Iran keeps stranglehold on Strait of Hormuz

Pentagon chiefs have expressed concern at the rate at which the US is burning through its Tomahawk missile stockpile just four weeks after the start of war with Iran.

The US has already launched 850 Tomahawks; These cost between $2 million and $3.6 million each, depending on the model, and are prized because they allow the Navy to hit targets up to 1,600 miles away without putting pilots at risk.

Concerns about stockpiles are now whispered within the walls of the Pentagon due to the difficulty of producing cruise missiles.

An official told the Washington Post that stock is ‘alarmingly low’.

Another said Tomahawk supplies were close to ‘Winchester’, military slang for ammunition running out.

Although the Pentagon’s entire ammunition stockpile is a closely guarded secret, only a few hundred Tomahawks are produced each year. According to the defense budget, only 57 units were purchased last year.

Now officials are urgently debating whether Tomahawk missiles from other regions, such as the Indo-Pacific, should be sent to the Middle East as the United States continues its offensive against the Islamic Republic.

Tomahawk cruise missiles have been a cornerstone of American military power since they were first used by George HW Bush in the Gulf War.

Tomahawks can be launched by US surface ships or submarines

But the widespread use of bespoke military technology in the U.S. war in Iran has rattled some Pentagon officials who are sounding the alarm about now-depleted Tomahawk stocks.

The Pentagon responded to the concerns of unnamed officials in a statement to the Daily Mail.

“The War Department has everything it needs to accomplish any mission on any timeline, where and when the President chooses,” said Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.

Officials are also discussing how to increase production of cruise missiles to meet growing demand.

Military planners are tracking the Tomahawks’ burn rate and calculating how many the United States might need not only for its war against Iran but also for other potential conflicts, sources told the Post.

Tomahawks allow the U.S. military to communicate with the missile via satellite, hitting pre-programmed targets or locating new targets in real time using GPS.

They can also hover over the battlefield with a camera that can relay a live feed of other attacks to commanders.

Many people were fired in the opening days of Operation Epic Rage, including an elementary school in Minab, Iran, which killed 165 people.

Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Delbert D Black (DDG 119) fires a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) in support of Operation Epic Fury in the Mediterranean on 28 February 2026

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US had taken control of Iranian airspace, meaning planes could fly and drop gravity bombs instead of advanced missiles.

But this still carries risks. Last week, a US F-35 stealth fighter jet was shot down over enemy airspace and was forced to make an emergency landing at a US base in the Middle East.

The Pentagon also fired more than 1,000 air defense missiles, including Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems, in response to Iran’s retaliatory strikes in the region.

These are some of the most advanced weapons in the world, and the United States also has a limited stockpile of these munitions, which cost much more than the cheaper missiles and drones fired by the Islamic regime.

In a protracted campaign against Iran, which is trying to force open the Strait of Hormuz amid rising oil and gas prices, depleting its missile inventory could cause a headache for the administration.

Oil prices rose on Friday after two Chinese ships were blocked from passing through the Bosphorus; This shows that Iran is ready for war.

International benchmark Brent crude futures increased by 2.8 percent to $111 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate futures rose by 2.7 percent to $97.

Donald Trump appears to understand the importance of building up the United States’ top-tier weapons arsenal.

Videos from inside Iran show the devastating impact of Tomahawks

Just a week after the war began, the President invited executives from America’s largest defense manufacturers to the White House for a meeting.

Trump confirmed the companies had agreed to ‘quadruple’ production of ‘superior class’ weapons, including hypersonic missiles and others with high-precision, long-range capabilities, such as the Tomahawk cruise missile.

RTX, one of the leading US defense contractors whose executives attended the White House meeting, is the sole manufacturer of the weapons. They are manufactured at a factory in Tucson, Arizona, and are used by some US allies such as the UK and Australia.

While Tomahawks were used to hit targets deep within Iran’s borders without putting US troops at risk, Iran was forced to use much of its ballistic missile inventory to respond.

The number of ballistic missiles Iran will need to counterattack remains a mystery, multiple sources told Reuters on Friday.

They told the press that the United States could only determine with certainty that it had destroyed a third of the Islamic Republic’s arsenal.

The status of a third of Iran’s ballistic missiles is less clear, but officials believe they are likely buried under rubble, damaged or destroyed.