The U.S. Department of Defense Releases Special Report on Iran Conflict, Acknowledges "Strategic Stockpile Shortage" of Core Munitions

[Global Times Comprehensive Report] CNN reported on the 14th that the U.S. Department of Defense's oversight agency released a special report on the Iran conflict that day, acknowledging a shortage in the inventory of advanced U.S. weapons and publicly disclosing the damage to U.S. equipment and military bases in the Middle East.

The report states that U.S. facilities in multiple countries in the Middle East have been destroyed, and there is a shortage of core ammunition. Recently, U.S. ammunition stocks have been reported to be significantly depleted in the Iran conflict, reaching a critical shortage, but both the White House and the Pentagon have denied this.

The Pentagon's Office of Inspector General released a report citing communications with U.S. Central Command, stating that in the initial months of military operations against Iran, "Iran's offensive destroyed hundreds of buildings and facilities at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan." The report also acknowledged a "strategic inventory shortage" of core U.S. ammunition and exposed bottlenecks in military industrial capacity for ammunition replenishment.

The report noted that the U.S. Navy's core hub in Bahrain was destroyed, with Acting Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro previously stating that Iran "blew it to smithereens." This poses a "huge challenge" for the U.S. military in establishing "sufficient naval bases and support ports." As a result, the U.S. military has designated Diego Garcia as a maritime logistics center, extending supply cycles to 14 to 18 days.

Previously, President Trump repeatedly denied that there was a shortage of ammunition in the U.S. On September 3, Trump posted on social media, accusing the media of not accurately reporting the status of U.S. weapons and ammunition stocks. He wrote: "We have almost unlimited mid-to-high-end ammunition, far more than we could use in this operation or any (highly unlikely) other war. Additionally, we are producing ammunition on an unprecedented scale." (Yiven)