# THAAD stocks gutted defending Israel, years to rebuild
> The US fired well over 100 THAAD interceptors in the Iran war, draining up to a third of a costly, slow-to-replace arsenal

**Meta:** type: event · date: 2026-05-21 · heads: What Broke, Whose Money · 8 takes · 4 lenses · 4 regions

## Summary

The 2026 Iran war drained the US [THAAD](/ko/entity/thaad) arsenal. Washington deployed two of seven
batteries to [Israel](/ko/entity/israel) and fired well over 100 interceptors, CNN puts it at 100–150,
Iranian state media claims 200+, against a stockpile so small the Payne Institute estimates
roughly a third was consumed. Replacement is glacial: the US bought ~11 THAAD interceptors
last year and is due ~12 this fiscal year, at ~$12.7M each, with rebuild estimated at three
to eight years. The drawdown left a [gap](/ko/head/what-broke) in the global missile-defence network
and, paired with the [Patriot drain](/ko/n/patriot-interceptor-depletion-iran-war) and Israel's
own Arrow-3 shortage, exposed how a single regional barrage can exhaust the highest-tier
[interceptors](/ko/entity/interceptor-stocks). RUSI flagged both [Israel](/ko/entity/israel) and the US running
critically low.

## By the numbers

- 100–150+, THAAD interceptors fired (CNN; Iran claims 200+).
- ~1/3, share of the THAAD stockpile consumed (Payne Institute).
- ~11 / ~12, THAAD interceptors procured last year / due this fiscal year.
- ~$12.7M, unit cost of a THAAD interceptor.
- 3–8 years, estimated time to rebuild the stockpile.

## Why it matters

THAAD is the upper-tier shield against medium-range ballistic missiles; only seven batteries
exist. Committing two to one theatre and emptying a third of the magazine leaves thin global
coverage and a multi-year hole, a [costly](/ko/head/whose-money) dependency that complicates
defending Israel, the Gulf and the Indo-Pacific at once.

## What to watch

- Whether THAAD procurement is surged in the FY27 budget.
- Israel's reliance on US interceptors in any renewed Iran exchange.
- Lockheed's ability to lift THAAD output beyond ~12/year.

## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens)

### unlabelled
- **CSIS, "The Depleting Missile Defense Interceptor Inventory"** (United States, en) — CSIS analysis quantifying THAAD/SM-3/Patriot expenditure against procurement: only ~11 new THAAD interceptors bought last year, ~12 due this fiscal year, against well over 100 fired, the open-source baseline for the replacement gap.
  Source: https://www.csis.org/analysis/depleting-missile-defense-interceptor-inventory
- **The Jerusalem Post** (Israel, en) — 
  Source: https://www.jpost.com/defense-and-tech/article-891130
- **Semafor** (United States, en) — 
  Source: https://www.semafor.com/article/03/14/2026/israel-is-running-critically-low-on-interceptors-us-officials-say
- **Defence Security Asia** (Malaysia, en) — 
  Source: https://defencesecurityasia.com/en/israel-arrow3-thaad-shortage-iran-war-rusi-interceptor-crisis-2026/
- **Congressional Research Service (THAAD primer)** (United States, en) — 
  Source: https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12645

### US international
- **CNN (investigation)** (United States, en) — CNN's investigation: the US deployed two of seven THAAD batteries to Israel and fired 100–150 interceptors, a third or more of the stockpile, exposing a gap in the global missile-defence network and doubts about regeneration speed.
  > "U.S. forces fired more than 100 THAADs, possibly 150, a significant share of America's stockpile of the system."
  Source: https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/28/middleeast/us-thaad-missile-interceptor-shortage-intl-invs

### Israeli liberal
- **Haaretz** (Israel, he) — Carries the RUSI finding that both Israel and the US ran critically low on high-end interceptors, tying THAAD drawdown to Israel's own Arrow-3 shortage and the dependence the war exposed on US-supplied defences.
  > "Israel and the US ran low on interceptors as the Iran war drained stocks, a UK think-tank study found."
  Source: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-security/2026-03-26/ty-article/.premium/israel-u-s-running-low-on-interceptors-as-iran-war-drains-stocks-study-finds/0000019d-2b24-dac5-a99d-6b7ccebd0000

### Iranian state
- **Press TV (via GlobalSecurity)** (Iran, en) — Iranian state framing: claims the US exhausted nearly half its THAAD stockpile shielding Israel, emphasising the cost Tehran's missile barrages imposed and the strain on US defences, to cast the war as an Iranian success.
  > "Washington deployed more than 200 THAAD interceptors, nearly half its global stockpile, solely to defend Israeli targets."
  Source: https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2026/05/mil-260521-presstv01.htm

## Across the graph
- Related: [[patriot-interceptor-depletion-iran-war]], [[sm3-interceptor-production-surge]], [[iron-dome-tamir-rebuild-2026]]
- Entities: Thaad, Interceptor Stocks, United States, Israel, Iran, Lockheed Martin

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Canonical: https://rbtfl.xyz/ko/n/thaad-stockpile-drawdown-israel