Even before the United States launched attacks on Iran, concerns abounded about a potential American munitions shortage. It’s now even more urgent that Congress address the issue.
Military officials and the Trump administration insist that the country has the weapons to complete the job in Iran. “We have sufficient precision munitions for the task at hand, both on the offense and defense,” Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told The Washington Post last week.
It’s also helpful that Iran’s capability to respond has been greatly damaged. The Pentagon reports that, after an initial barrage, Iran missile and drone attacks have dropped by 90 percent in recent days. This will allow the United States and Israel to deploy less sophisticated weapons to deter Iranian attacks.
Yet the Post reported that President Donald Trump admitted in a recent social media post that, while “medium and upper medium grade” munitions are “virtually unlimited,” weapons at “the highest end” are in “good supply, but are not where we want to be.”
The reasons for this are numerous. The United States “has underinvested in bombs and missiles for years,” noted Kate B. Odell of The Wall Street Journal this week. “Barack Obama may have been the worst offender during the days of the U.S. military budget sequester.” U.S. aid to Ukraine and a more aggressive American military under Mr. Trump have also played a role.
But with the new American foray into the Middle East, an increasingly belligerent China and a war-hungry Russia, more investments are desperately needed to shore up the nation’s defense capabilities.
The White House will almost certainly in coming days send Congress a supplemental funding request — in the many billions of dollars — to sustain the Iran action. That must not become a blank check. Instead, Congress should direct any new funds to proven munition programs that can be ramped up quickly to provide what the nation needs to carry out successful modern military campaigns.
“Money alone won’t solve this problem,” wrote Christian Brose, a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, for the Journal in a prescient commentary just days before the missiles started flying. “We need new and different weapons that are simpler, faster and cheaper to produce. They should be designed to be made in great numbers and by the largest possible workforce, using commercial manufacturing practices and supply chains.”
This highlights the importance of keeping the Pentagon under a financial microscope and holding it to fiscal standards that promote accountability. Yes, the nation must improve its munitions production. But bloated military budgets larded with pork drain funds from vital programs and ultimately weaken the nation’s defense capabilities.
