Iran still has thousands of ballistic missiles in its arsenal that it could use by retrieving launchers from underground storage areas, according to American officials familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments, the Wall Street Journal reported on April 10. Previously, Hegseth had told reporters this week that Iran’s missile program is “functionally destroyed” with launchers and missiles “depleted and decimated and almost completely ineffective.”
The picture painted by U.S. intelligence reports, however, indicates that Iran can reconstitute some of its missile force. While U.S. officials say that more than half of Iran’s missile launchers have been destroyed, damaged or trapped underground, many of those launchers that remain can be repaired or dug out from underground complexes, U.S. officials said. Iran’s missile inventory also has been roughly halved in the conflict, yet it retains thousands of medium- and short-range ballistic missiles that could be pulled out of hiding or retrieved from underground sites, said U.S. and Israeli officials.
Iran’s one-way attack drones, according to U.S. officials, are now well under 50% of what it had at the start of the war. This is attributed to Iran having expended many of them during the conflict and Tehran’s weapons production sites having been attacked by the U.S. and Israel. However, even this estimate as to what remains of Iran’s drones could be too low. It should be noted that, given that the results of strategic bombing have historically been exaggerated by its proponents.
