WASHINGTON: A Pentagon inspector general report released this week has delivered the first official, detailed accounting of the financial and operational toll of the U.S. war with Iran, concluding that six months of fighting cost an estimated $33.4 billion through late June and produced “strategic inventory shortfalls” in advanced munitions.
The Lead Inspector General report on Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. designation for the joint campaign with Israel that began Feb. 28, covers operations through June 30. Of the $33.4 billion total as of June 29, $22.3 billion was attributed to expended munitions, $3.7 billion to equipment losses, and $7.4 billion to other incremental operating costs. The figure does not include repairs to damaged bases or diplomatic facilities.
A separate Congressional Budget Office analysis issued Tuesday put the cost through Aug. 1 at about $38 billion and projected $2 billion to $3 billion more each month if fighting continues at recent intensity. CBO said replacing munitions already used would cost $21.7 billion, including $13.1 billion for missile-defense interceptors and $7.3 billion for land-attack cruise missiles.
The inspector general’s findings directly contradict repeated public statements by President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that U.S. stockpiles remain ample. Trump has described ammunition supplies as “virtually unlimited” and called contrary reporting “fake news.” Hegseth told lawmakers in July that the war had cost $37.5 billion and rejected claims of heavy depletion. The White House said after the IG report that the United States still has “more than enough” munitions.
Pentagon acquisition officials told the watchdog that munitions use “has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply.” The most persistent constraints, the report said, are production of solid rocket motors, supplies of high-grade explosives and propellants, and recruitment of skilled manufacturing labor. Officials said the industrial base needs “significant lead time” to expand capacity. The department is streamlining procurement, stockpiling critical components, and accelerating existing production lines, but analysts warn that restoring pre-war inventories of some systems could take three to five years.
Independent estimates illustrate the scale of the drawdown. The Center for Strategic and International Studies has calculated that Patriot interceptor stocks fell from roughly 2,300 before the war to between 759 and 827, and THAAD interceptors from about 452 to 234–278. CBO estimated that the United States has used between one-half and two-thirds of its combined inventory of Patriot, THAAD, SM-3 and SM-6 interceptors since mid-2025, spanning this campaign and earlier operations. Rebuilding those stocks, CBO said, would probably take at least five years even with accelerated production. Those interceptors would be central to any conflict with a peer competitor such as China.
The human and material cost has also been substantial. The IG report recorded 18 U.S. service members dead as of June 30—11 killed in action and seven in non-combat incidents—and hundreds wounded. More than 50,000 U.S. troops have deployed to the region. Iranian strikes damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at U.S. installations in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan. The Navy’s main logistics hub in Bahrain was heavily hit; acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said Iran “blew the hell out of” the base.
Aircraft losses include four F-15 fighters destroyed, one F-35 damaged, seven KC-135 tankers damaged or destroyed (five of them struck on the ground in Saudi Arabia), and as many as 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones lost, each costing about $30 million. Diplomatic facilities in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE sustained an estimated $184 million in damage. The State Department reported $113 million in related expenses, including nearly $80 million for evacuations that moved about 9,000 U.S. citizens.
Operational tempo was intense. U.S. Central Command flew about 36,000 combat sorties, conducted more than 1,800 fire missions, and struck roughly 13,500 targets. Forces intercepted more than 6,000 attack drones and over 1,500 ballistic missiles aimed at U.S. and partner positions. A major combat phase ran from Feb. 28 to a ceasefire on April 7, after which operations continued at a lower but still costly level.
The administration requested $87.6 billion in supplemental funding in June, including $67.1 billion for the Pentagon, much of it to restock munitions. Neither the IG nor CBO totals include the full cost of repairing bases or long-term personnel and veterans’ expenses. NBC News reported in July that some internal estimates ran as high as $80 billion to $100 billion when those categories are considered.
The shortfalls carry implications beyond the current theater. Ukraine depends on U.S.-made Patriot interceptors; Taiwan and other partners face similar constraints. CBO warned that a reduced interceptor inventory would become “especially problematic” in a conflict with an adversary possessing large ballistic and cruise missile forces. Trump initially predicted a short war measured in weeks; more recently he has suggested fighting could continue past the November midterm elections.
The inspector general’s 44-page report is the first of what Congress mandated as regular quarterly assessments. Subsequent editions are expected to capture additional costs, further infrastructure damage, and the pace of industrial recovery as the conflict enters its seventh month.