Trump's Army Wants $2 Billion for Missiles After Burning Through Stockpiles in Iran War

The Trump administration wants to quadruple spending on a long-range missile system after burning through stockpiles during its war with Iran -- raising concerns that the president's military adventurism is draining weapons meant to deter China.

Budget documents released this week show the Army requesting nearly $2 billion for Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) in fiscal year 2027, up from $546 million Congress allocated for 2026. If approved, the funding would purchase 1,134 missiles at roughly $1.7 million each.

The spending surge comes three months after the PrSM made its combat debut in Operation Epic Fury, Trump's military campaign against Iran that began in March. The Lockheed Martin-manufactured missiles can strike targets up to 310 miles away and were originally developed for long-range combat in the Indo-Pacific -- not the Middle East.

Defense experts have warned for months that the Iran operations risk depleting munitions stockpiles needed to counter China. The PrSM was specifically designed to help the U.S. military operate in the vast distances of the Pacific theater, where America's ability to project power depends on having enough missiles to overwhelm Chinese defenses.

Now the Pentagon is scrambling to rebuild those arsenals. In March, officials secured emergency deals with major defense contractors to accelerate production, including an agreement with Lockheed Martin to reduce lead times for PrSM manufacturing. The company had already received a $4.9 billion contract in 2025 to boost output.

The Army's budget request splits the $2 billion between base funding and a future supplemental package -- meaning $692 million of the total banks on Congress passing another reconciliation bill. That's a big assumption given ongoing fights over Trump's tax cuts and spending priorities.

The missile procurement is part of a massive jump in the Army's overall munitions budget, which skyrocketed to more than $35 billion for 2027 from about $6.5 billion in 2026. The service is also requesting funds to replenish Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems, HIMARS rocket launchers, and the Mid-Range Capability missile system.

The spending spree underscores a pattern that's defined Trump's approach to military policy: launch operations first, worry about the costs and strategic tradeoffs later. The PrSM entered service in 2023 with the explicit purpose of deterring Chinese aggression in Asia. Using those weapons to fight a war in Iran -- a conflict Trump started without congressional authorization -- means those deterrent stockpiles no longer exist.

Pentagon officials have not explained how they plan to maintain readiness for a potential Pacific conflict while simultaneously fighting in the Middle East. The budget request also doesn't clarify whether the accelerated procurement timeline is directly tied to the recent production deals with Lockheed Martin, or if it's simply an attempt to backfill what's already been expended.

What is clear: American taxpayers are now on the hook for billions more in weapons spending because Trump chose to start a war that's draining arsenals faster than industry can replace them. The missiles cost $1.7 million each. The Army wants more than a thousand of them. And there's no end to the Iran conflict in sight.