WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The current wars waged by the United States and its allies in Iraq, Yemen and Syria have depleted US reserves of precision guided missiles (PGM), senior Department of Defense officials have complained, according to US media reports.
"This issue has caught the attention of leadership inside the Pentagon, which has raised the need for faster PGM deliveries as an example of how the [foreign military sales] system needs reform," Defense News said on Friday, citing a financial study from Guggenheim Securities.
The Guggenheim Securities report said the demand for more precision-guided air-to-surface missiles by US and allied forces had seriously run down domestic stocks.
"The need to replace precision munitions among NATO and Middle East countries participating in air strikes against ISIS [Daesh] in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen [is]… reflected in sales to Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Turkey to replace used weapons," the Guggenheim Securities report noted.
However, Defense Department officials remained concerned that the precision-guided missiles were still not being delivered to the three theaters of war quickly enough and in sufficient numbers to replace those that had already been used, Defense News pointed out.