world ๐ก๏ธ US Patriot Missile Stocks Are Critically Low
The US is currently facing a major Patriot missile shortage as stockpiles have dropped to only 25 percent of necessary levels. This issue arose from heavy deployment in Ukraine and intense conflict in the Middle East. Roughly 1,500 interceptors were used in the Middle East conflict since it began, representing 65 percent of the arsenal. To fix this, the Pentagon gave Lockheed Martin a US$58.6 billion contract to boost production. The goal is to increase annual manufacturing capacity to 2,000 missiles by the year 2030. ๐