🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷 The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) has published new estimates for the number of standoff munitions the U.S. expended during the 40 day combat period of the 3rd Gulf War.
They believe that ~25% of the JASSM inventory and ~30% of the Tomahawk/TLAM inventory have been expended in those 40 days.
The interceptor stocks are even more depleted, with estimates varying from 31-60% for the SM-3 interceptor to 16-32% for the SM-6 interceptor to 52-81% for the THAAD interceptor being expended.
CSIS has calculated that it would take 4 years to replenish the inventories of the standoff munitions used and more than 5 years to replenish the interceptor inventories.
Renewed hostilities between Iran, Israel and the U.S. would see the interceptor inventories go extinct while the standoff munitions inventories would be degraded even further.
📝 Patarames: U.S. airpower can generate vast, destructive firepower
But up until now, it used primarily 'luxury' assets, stand-off missiles to limit shot-downs
This enabled the chance of a clean, flawless military campaign against Iran
IF losses would be accepted, e.g. ~5-10 aircrafts lost per day, U.S. airpower could fly large-scale bombing raids into Iran with heavy, low-cost munitions like Mk84 bombs, GBU-28s, MOABs and GBU-57A/B MOPs
Only such a sacrificing, high-intensity warfare campaign could disable Iran's Ballistic Missile long-range strike capability
Hence if Trump would accept the loss of several hundred aircraft and their crews he would have a kinetic-option against Iran which does not require war-crimes, counter-value methods.
But 2026 U.S. society is not that of the Vietnam War, to let U.S. seriously think about such a scenario.
🔗 https://www.csis.org/analysis/last-rounds-status-key-munitions-iran-war-ceasefire
🛢 How Long Can Demand Destruction Keep a Lid on Oil Prices?
In a somewhat puzzling market development, oil prices haven't spiked yet to record highs amid the worst supply disruption in history.
That's because the market still hopes for a quick resolution to the Strait of Hormuz crisis (for more than three months now), global inventories have offered a supply buffer, the world's top crude importer, China, is staying away from spot purchases, and last but not least, demand destruction is accelerating amid the high prices.
The oversupply with which the market faced the beginning of the Iran war has helped to ease the upward pressure on oil prices as the conflict enters its fourth month. But global stocks, except in China, are being depleted at a record pace, suggesting that the buffer is stretching thin and the true magnitude of the supply loss will hit the market very soon.
Excluding China, which has accumulated large buffer stocks of more than 1.2 billion barrels over the past year, the rest of the ...
🇺🇸🚜🛢 Biggest Diesel Shock Since 2022 Deals Another Blow to US Farmers
While US farmers brace for higher fertilizer and chemical bills tied to turmoil in the Middle East, another expense is already taking a bite out of razor-thin margins: diesel fuel.
Prices for the fuel that powers tractors, combines and grain trucks have surged as the war in Iran disrupted global oil flows, catching many producers who expected lower energy costs this year off guard. In Illinois, the top US soybean-producing state, farm diesel averaged a record $5.41 a gallon at the start of May, nearly double the price a year earlier.
Current costs, which have moderated some in recent weeks amid prospects for a US-Iran peace deal, still rival levels last seen in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, adding a fresh burden for farmers already facing weak crop prices and mounting financial pressure.
Marty Richardson, who grows corn and soybeans and raises cattle in Missouri, experienced the sticker shock ...
Maryland’s Democrat Governor Just Signed a Law Banning the Most Popular Handgun in the United States
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/05/marylands-democrat-governor-just-signed-law-banning-most/