How Israel Forced America to Shoot Its China War Arsenal at $2,000 Drones - And Lost

The ongoing conflict between Yemen and the Israeli regime, initiated by the Yemenis in 2023 in support of Palestine, has turned the United States into a long-term defender of the Israeli regime. Washington is actively protecting the regime’s interests and the shipping lanes it relies upon. The Yemenis have escalated their drone and missile attacks in support of Gaza, forcing U.S. naval forces to expend massive amounts of advanced munitions in countermeasures. This has led to a sharp decline in strategic missile stockpiles, raising serious concerns about military readiness, financial costs, and geopolitical consequences. U.S. Navy commanders have described this consumption rate as unprecedented and a sign of the nation’s defensive vulnerabilities.


This conflict has caused an extraordinary and exhausting expenditure of U.S. missiles, far exceeding historical norms. Between October 2023 and June 2025, U.S. aircraft carriers and destroyers fired approximately 268 Standard-2 (SM-2) missiles, 159 SM-3 missiles, and 280 multi-role SM-6 missiles to neutralize Yemeni operations in the Red Sea and defend the Israeli regime. According to operational reports, this rate surpasses previous conflicts, with more air-defense missiles fired in these 20 months than in the previous three decades combined. American admirals, speaking before Congress, have labeled these figures “warning-level consumption rates,” stressing that sustained operations are placing severe strain on resupply cycles. The SM-2, designed for short-to-medium range air defense, has been used primarily against inexpensive drones, while the SM-3 and SM-6 have countered ballistic and hypersonic threats. This asymmetric warfare — in which cheap Yemeni munitions (costing between $2,000 and $20,000 each) trigger multi-million-dollar responses — starkly illustrates the challenges, forcing the U.S. to deplete costly assets in the Red Sea region.


Despite ramped-up production, these launches have significantly reduced strategic reserves and could undermine U.S. operational readiness. By mid-2025, SM-2 stockpiles had dropped roughly 3% from October 2023 levels, SM-3 reserves had fallen 33%, and SM-6 inventories were down 17%. Companies like Raytheon have increased output, producing hundreds of these missiles annually, yet such efforts cannot keep pace with wartime demand, as production inevitably lags during protracted conflicts. Military analysts warn that such drawdowns could create “operational gaps,” especially if crises escalate or spread to multiple fronts, leaving ships vulnerable to simultaneous threats. For example, carriers like the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower — critical to Red Sea operations — rely on vertical launch systems that cannot be reloaded at sea, a limitation that drives up costs and exposes logistical weaknesses. This trend underscores the fragility of U.S. munitions reserves, traditionally structured for short, decisive campaigns rather than drawn-out attritional warfare.

Financially, these interceptions double the fiscal strain, pushing costs into the billions. Each SM-3 missile, optimized for ballistic defense, costs between $12.5 and $28.7 million; SM-2 missiles exceed $2.5 million apiece, and SM-6 missiles average around $4.3 million. Based on the munitions used, the total cost of defending the Israeli regime during this period may approach $3.6 billion — excluding ancillary expenses like fuel, energy, and manpower. This imbalance, where expensive American systems counter low-cost Yemeni threats, highlights inefficiencies in U.S. defense doctrine. Pentagon reports confirm that interception costs often exceed the value of the threat by dozens of times. Such expenses divert resources from modernization programs, strain the Department of Defense budget, and increase the demand for cheaper alternatives.

This approach exposes serious constraints in hypothetical wars with major powers like China. Current operations remain within U.S. logistical capacity, but projections suggest that intense conflict in the Taiwan Strait or South China Sea could increase missile consumption tenfold, emptying reserves within weeks. China’s hypersonic missiles and swarm tactics would place enormous demand on SM-3 and SM-6 interceptors, making sustained defense impossible under current production and cost structures. The Red Sea experience serves as a miniature model, showing how rivals can use attritional warfare to erode U.S. capabilities before a major conflict, redirecting resources and undermining deterrence in the Pacific.


Strategically, this crisis demands a complete reassessment of U.S. stockpile policies, production capacity, and missile defense doctrines. Shrinking reserves cast doubt on the overreliance on expensive interceptors and underscore the need for investments in mass production and alternative technologies such as lasers or electronic warfare. The situation also challenges forward-defense doctrines, potentially shifting toward preemptive strikes or burden-sharing with allies. The broader implications include reduced credibility within alliances, as governments like the Israeli regime benefit from U.S. expenditures without proportionate contributions — fueling debates on strategic dependencies that could become a long-term challenge to political and security relations.


Ultimately, America’s escalating costs to defend the Israeli regime in this conflict point to a dangerous trajectory. If Washington fails to rein in the regime’s actions, it will face irreversible strategic and security consequences, lose vital resources needed to contain China, and invite rivals to exploit its existing weaknesses in great-power competition.


*Translated by Ashraf Hemmati from the original Persian article written by Mohammad Mehdi Esmail Khanian