Not enough.
This missile deficit parallels the well-documented lack of U.S. artillery shell production that has enabled Russia to increase the rate at which it’s taking control over territories in Ukraine today.
While the United States is not going to run out of missiles tomorrow, its missile inventory, both offensive and defensive, is dwindling.
We also know that between Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, some 740 Patriot PAC-2/PAC-3 missiles per year will be made in 2025, with production theoretically ramping up to roughly 1,100 missiles by 2027. That sounds like a lot, but since February 22, 2022, Ukraine has faced attacks from thousands of drones and missiles.[1]
Just last night.[1]
Russia’s defence ministry on Sunday said that it downed 70 Ukrainian drones over six regions, including 34 over the region around Moscow, forcing the temporary closure of three airports. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia had fired 145 drones at Ukraine.
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Moreover, while our proxy war on Russia has strained our resources, an outbreak of hostilities with China could easily increase the burn rate of our ship-based missiles by an order of magnitude over what we have been seeing in the Middle East.
Naturally, since July, the Navy has continued to use overpriced, ridiculously expensive missiles to shoot down cheap Houthis drones and missiles. Adding to our Navy’s missile burn rate, on at least two occasions, April and October of this year, our warships used SM-2 and SM-3 missiles to protect Israel from Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.
https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/military/pentagons-supply-of-air-defense-missiles-is-shrinking-report/
RTX can make a few hundred Standard Missiles in a year, a U.S. defense official told the Wall Street Journal. Some of those would be distributed among at least 14 other allies receiving supplies from RTX.
In the meantime, officials like Del Toro and Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are exploring alternate technology. That could entail tapping newer companies to help make new types of air-defense missiles, the Wall Street Journal reported.