The U.S. military is experiencing a “beyond critical” shortage of advanced missile interceptors in Europe, driven largely by President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, a U.S. defense official in Europe and a NATO official told The Associated Press, raising concerns about NATO countries’ vulnerabilities to a possible Russian attack. The U.S. defense official said the most worrying shortfall involves Patriot missile interceptors, which can shoot down Russia’s high-speed ballistic missiles. The NATO official confirmed low Patriot inventories among US and NATO forces in Europe. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters. In the event of a Russian ballistic missile attack against, for example, a military headquarters or a power plant, NATO could be in a similar position to patriot-hungry Ukraine and be forced to “take blow after blow in the mouth,” the U.S. defense official said. Story continues below ad. It illustrates the cascading consequences of Trump’s decision to launch a war against Iran, a conflict that turns six months old on Friday. American missile stockpiles in Europe have shifted to the Middle East, where the United States and its Gulf allies have fired significant numbers of interceptors, including Patriots, to thwart Iran’s drones and missiles. Some of those attacks have killed and wounded American troops. Although a Russian ballistic missile attack against NATO countries is not expected imminently, CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow this week to warn Russia not to attack, The Wall Street Journal reported. Trump downplayed the significance of the rare, secretive trip, saying it was “kind of semi-routine.” European and NATO officials say Russia could be in a position to attack alliance countries by 2030. The Patriots’ stockpile is projected to recover by then. Meanwhile, Russia’s war in Ukraine could hamper its ability to carry out any missile strikes against Europe, as it would be challenging for Moscow to wage a two-front air war. The shortage of Patriot missiles is felt most acutely in Ukraine, where officials are calling for more air defense support and where previous transfers from the United States have also reduced some supply. kyiv says only American-made Patriots can stop Russia’s advanced ballistic missiles, which increasingly penetrate Ukrainian defenses, including as part of a bombardment overnight Thursday. The United States supplied hundreds of Patriot missiles to Ukraine over the course of the four-and-a-half-year conflict, but the Iran war was the tipping point for reducing inventories, said Ed Arnold, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a military think tank in London. Supply to Ukraine was reasonably planned and measured, he said, while stocks in the Middle East ran out unexpectedly and quickly, exposing supply chain constraints. The U.S. military in Europe is also grappling with a critical shortage of the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, a medium-range ballistic missile designed to strike behind enemy lines, the two officials said. But the overall munitions picture in Europe is less dire than in air defenses only because some European militaries have their own offensive missiles, such as the Taurus and the Storm Shadow, both long-range air-launched bunker-busting missiles. Get daily national news Get daily Canadian news delivered to your inbox so you never miss the day’s top stories. U.S. Army Col. Martin O’Donnell, a senior military spokesman for NATO, said it is “simply not true” that the number of Patriot missiles in Europe exceeds the critical level. NATO, he said, is capable of “blocking hits” and has enough air defense munitions available to defend itself and donate them to Ukraine. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Thursday that claims about ammunition shortages in the United States “are false.” wherever the President chooses,” Parnell said. “Through multiple combatant commands, we have already executed successful operations while maintaining an arsenal deep and ready to defend our people and our interests.” 2:05 NATO member Lithuania says Russia could launch a false flag operation. Europe has few alternatives. A shortage of Patriot interceptors in Europe would leave few alternatives to shoot down Russia’s most advanced ballistic missiles, which can combine with swarms of inexpensive drones to overwhelm defenses, experts say. Ukraine and some allies already use systems that can destroy slower-moving drones without expensive missiles. But ballistic missiles are challenging because they launch abruptly toward targets at more than five times the speed of sound, leaving little time to stop them. The Patriot system tracks the missile, predicts its trajectory and launches it in a matter of minutes, while performing complex calculations to ensure the interceptor finds its target. be the SAMP/T NG air defense system of France and Italy. France has promised to accelerate the delivery of the system (the improved version of the current SAMP/T) to Ukraine, which the manufacturer says is more capable of countering ballistics. However, the new iteration has not yet been tested in battle and the current version of the SAMP/T has a shorter range than the Patriot More about the world More videos While the US and European militaries have warships that can serve as mobile air defense, they may be too far from. a target to protect it and they could risk sinking. 5:34 US threatens economic war against Iran Stocks plummet during Iran war Ukraine has received Patriots from US and European stockpiles since the 2022 Russian invasion, and the US provided about 600 interceptors during the Biden administration, said Mark Cancian, a retired Navy colonel who is now a senior adviser to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. Biggest spending came during the conflict with Iran, which used 65% of US Patriots, equivalent to about 1,500 of the country’s 2,330 interceptors, CSIS says about 600 missiles, including those destined for Europe, should be manufactured this year, with a production target of 2,000 Patriot missiles per year set for 2030, Cancian said. NATO says Europe’s first Patriot missile production facility is expected to be built. to open in Germany in September, with deliveries possibly beginning early next year. The first deliveries should go to countries that have already placed orders, including Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain, the U.S. defense official said. But for now, that means some countries, like Germany, have purchased expensive Patriot systems but are in the “ridiculous” position of not having ammunition to fire with them, said Arnold of the London think tank. Germany’s Defense Ministry said it does not comment on stockpiles. 1:58 Ukrainian drones attack Russian online retailer, Russia strikes back Russia also has limitations Moscow likely won’t be able to carry out a sustained airstrike against a NATO target while launching near-nightly strikes against Ukraine, Arnold said Ukraine’s recent attacks on Russia have also exposed weaknesses in Russian air defenses, which could lead Putin to think twice about provoking a retaliatory strike “The inconvenient truth is that possibly the best air defense we have is limitations. Russians,” Arnold said.