US Navy using munitions at ‘alarming rate’ to defend Israel from Iran

The U.S. Navy used its munitions at an “alarming rate” to defend Israel from recent Iranian strikes, a military official said Tuesday, raising questions from lawmakers about how it intends to replace and maintain stockpiles amid global threats.

Admiral James Kilby, Naval Operations acting chief, made the remark in his testimony during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the Navy’s budget in Washington when Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, asked about the Navy’s available munitions to defend against global threats.

“The latest round of conflict in the Middle East utilized large amounts of munitions to defend Israel from Iranian strikes,” Schatz said. “Does the Navy currently have all the SM-3s it needs for global threats?”

“We do, sir,” Kilby responded, “but we are, to your point, using them at an alarming rate. As you know, those are missiles procured by the Missile Defense Agency and then delivered to the Navy for our use. And we are using them quite effectively in the defense of Israel.”

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An SM-3, or Standard Missile 3, are missiles that the Navy uses as a defense to intercept and destroy short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.

“We need more munitions, air defense interceptors, long-range fires, artillery,” Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said during the hearing. “Recent conflict tells us we need a lot more of them.”

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McConnell asked how the Navy and Marine Corps were addressing the challenge of these munitions not being produced fast enough.

John Phelan, secretary of the Navy, said this was a main concern that officials were focusing on to “get fixed.”

“We are looking at a number of different avenues, including other parties and different ways of making some of these munitions,” Phelan said. “This is a huge priority from both the secretary of defense and the president, and we are putting as much effort and time into this as we are in shipbuilding.”