Interesting. "On the other hand, the main reason why the number of air defense missiles in the US is rapidly decreasing today is that the US VLS-capable warships are launching dozens of missiles to prevent missile attacks from Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah in the Middle East armed conflicts. In the article titled ‘Destroying Houthi and Iranian missiles cost the US $1 billion’ by Peter Suciu in the American ‘’The National Interest’’ Magazine dated April 17, 2024, the statements made by the US Navy Secretary Del Toro for the US Congress were mentioned. The secretary said the following: “We have countered more than 130 direct attacks on U.S. Navy ships and merchant ships, over the past six months. The Navy has fired nearly $1 billion worth of air defense missiles to counter air threats from Iran and its proxies.” Del Toro underlined the financial pressure this situation is putting on naval stockpiles, stressing the urgent need for $2 billion in short-term funding to replenish ammunition and $95 billion in additional funding later.

No U.S. warships equipped with VLS systems have yet been hit by a Houthi or Iranian missile, but the war of attrition in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea is eating away at resources set aside for the upcoming major conflict with China. For example, the SM-3, which is suitable for intercepting long-range ballistic missiles outside the atmosphere, costs between $9.7 million and $27.9 million, depending on the range. It was announced that the Navy fired ‘four to seven’ of them during the defense of Israel on April 14, 2024.

According to the Wall Street Journal dated October 29, 2024, American warships have spent a total of nearly 100 air defense missiles worth $1.8 billion in both the Mediterranean and the Red Seas in the last year when added the VLS firings of the 4 Aegis cruisers in the Mediterranean to support Israel in the missile and drone attack defense against Iran on October1. As required by the air defense doctrine, American warships fire 2 missiles at an approaching target to ensure destruction which increases the cost. An American congressional official said:

“These are expensive munitions to hit the Houthi targets… It takes months to replace each one and it is very costly.” On the other hand, the US defense industry does not only use these missiles in the Prosperity Guardian Operation carried out against the Houthis in the Red Sea to protect merchant ships.

.In the event of war, these VLS ships will protect aircraft carrier strike groups. Considering that the US has 11 strike groups of 11 aircraft carriers, in the event of a war, at least 44-55 VLS capable ships will have to be allocated solely to this task. On the other hand the US Navy is extremely wary of China’s 5000-8000 km range DF 27 hypersonic anti-ship missiles which is very effective anti-access and area denial weapon. Therefore, they are looking for other solutions, considering that their current air defense capacity will not be sufficient.

The Reuters, Mike Stone article dated October 25, 2024 states the following : “The US Navy, fearful of China deploying hypersonic weapons to sink ships in the Pacific, will equip some of its ships with Patriot interceptor missiles.” In the details of this news, we understand that the integration of PAC 3 missiles into Aegis-class air defense ships will be initiated. The news emphasizes that PAC 3s were successful in shooting down hypersonic missiles in the Ukraine-Russia war.

The main problem is that the US Navy and defense industry do not have the production infrastructure designed for a large-scale war of attrition in both Europe and the Middle East. Considering that the real war will take place in the Pacific, both the Ukrainian and Israeli fronts cause vulnerabilities in American defense industry plans. The US is spending the missiles it will use in the war with China, in the Mediterranean and the Red Seas. On the other hand, short-range SM-2s cost a little over $2 million each, and SM-6s cost approximately $3.9 million. However, most importantly, the production of one SM 3 missile takes 2 years at the fastest and 3 years at the longest. Considering that its standard missiles are used by 13 countries, including Turkiye, we can also predict that the RTX company, which produces these missiles, will be under great pressure in the coming days. In short, the US faces a serious air threat from its rivals. The old days are over. The attack capabilities of Iran, Russia and especially China are at a level that will limit the air defense capabilities of the US Navy." https://www.globalresearch.ca/us-navy-missile-problem..