this post was submitted on 16 Mar 2026
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askchapo

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How close are US munition stockpiles to depletion, and what do they do afterwards? (hexbear.net)
submitted 19 hours ago by insurgentrat@hexbear.net to c/askchapo@hexbear.net
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I was looking at the production numbers for stuff like thaad missiles and tomahawks. They're all in the dozens annually and seemingly have been for ages.

Given the staggering numbers these are used in, and how it seems like the way the usa fights wars now is to launch stupid amounts at people, like multiple years worth in a day. What happens when they can't? How close are they to that, interceptors are low atm but given there are hilarious announcements like: https://en.defence-ua.com/weapon_and_tech/over_1000_tomahawks_1900_aim_120s_500_sm_6s_per_year_us_moves_to_multiply_missile_production-17408.html I assume many offensive rockets are running low.

Is that level of production feasible? I know the usa has a surprising industrial base but a 20x increase in even one armament seems ambitious, do they have the factories mothballed? The skilled workers? The raw materials?

If they don't is there any inkling of what their military people intend to do when they can't realistically threaten to park a fleet off your coast and level your cities?

I'm not a military nerd, just a random person if I'm missing sometimes obvious or said sometimes funny.

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[โ€“] ZWQbpkzl@hexbear.net 1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Chemical shortages explains why the US hasn't scaled up artillery production. That shortage can be explained by the US's shift to expensive "smart bombs" which are allegedly more efficient with their explosives. You can't conclude from that the US has been under producing smart bombs for 25 years.

[โ€“] Formerlyfarman@hexbear.net 1 points 9 hours ago

It's an issue of volume. The explosives, can be made into bombs, artillery, missiles, etc, but the volume of whatever is made is limited. They can't produce enough volume of whatever is the end product. The claim that bombs are better than a trusty cannon, is a way to justify the lack of production. But there is a still a lack of production, due to problems in the chemical industry.