The US missile arsenal is depleted after the war with Iran.

GD&TĐ - Following the conflict in the Middle East with Iran, the US missile arsenal is facing depletion, amidst a shortage of materials for missile production.

An article by authors Janis Mackey Frayer, Stella Kim, and Jennifer Jett on NBC News on May 25 stated that, as the US waged war against Iran in the Middle East, it was expending a large amount of advanced weapons and ammunition, including Tomahawk, Patriot, and Precision Strike missiles.

However, the U.S. cannot quickly resolve the shortage of ammunition and weapons following a conflict with Iran, as this requires tungsten, a powerful metal that the Americans have virtually no supply of.

Almonty Industries' Sangdong tungsten mine in South Korea.

Tungsten is a metal used in the manufacture of missiles, bombs and artillery shells, fighter jets, and many other things. This means it is needed in large quantities in the arms industry, but the problem is that the US is currently experiencing a significant shortage of this metal.

The last tungsten mine in the US closed in 2015, after which the US switched to buying the metal from China, a country that monopolizes the production of about 80% of all tungsten.

Almaty said it will process approximately 1.2 million tons of tungsten ore annually at its mine in South Korea.

However, after taking office, US President Donald Trump declared his intention to reduce dependence on supplies from China and is working to find alternatives to Chinese sourcing.

Against this backdrop, the U.S. reopened the Sangdong tungsten mine in South Korea, which had been closed for 30 years, last March, and is also working to revive the American tungsten industry.

But the problem is that decades of inactivity have led not only to the breakdown of technological lines but also to the loss of top experts in this field in the United States.

A mining site in Inner Mongolia, China, in October 2025.

“There’s no knowledge left. There are no consultants you can turn to. There are no books you can consult. All that knowledge disappeared in the 90s,” lamented Lewis Black, CEO of mining company Almonty Industries.

According to this official, the US would need 10 years to revive its tungsten industry, and even with sufficient fuel, it would still take another 4-5 years to replenish its missile arsenal. During that time, the US would be in a difficult situation if a new conflict were to break out.

According to NBC News

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/kho-ten-lua-my-can-kiet-sau-cuoc-chien-voi-iran-post779326.html