WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 the vulnerability of NATO countries to a possible Russian attack. The U.S. defense official said the most worrying shortage 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, for example, against a military headquarters or a power plant, NATO could find itself in a position similar to that of patriot-hungry Ukraine and be forced to “take one blow after another in the mouth,” the US defense official said. Smoke rises over warehouses after a Russian airstrike in kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) Smoke rises over warehouses after a Russian airstrike in kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Read More In Europe, the U.S. military “definitely” does not have enough Patriots to stop any potential sustained ballistic missile attack and would have a “very limited” ability to defend against a single ballistic missile attack or a stray Russian missile that veers off course, the U.S. official said. This illustrates the cascading consequences of Trump’s decision to launch a war against Iran, a conflict that reaches the six-month mark 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. When asked by reporters Thursday whether Ratcliffe conveyed that message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump offered a roundabout answer. Sign up for the Ground Game newsletter: your guide to the biggest stories in American politics, policy and elections. “I don’t want to comment on it, but they’re not going to attack,” Trump said. European and NATO officials say Russia could be in a position to attack alliance countries by 2030. Patriot stockpiles are expected 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. Smoke rises over warehouses behind a field of sunflowers following a Russian airstrike in kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) Smoke rises over warehouses behind a field of sunflowers following a Russian airstrike in Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your source favorite to see more of our stories on Google. Share Read more Transfers of American patriots to Ukraine influenced the withdrawal, but war against Iran was not expected. Army Col. Martin O’Donnell, a senior NATO military spokesman, 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 a U.S. ammunition shortage “are false.” of the President’s election,” Parnell said. “Across multiple combatant commands, we have already executed successful operations while maintaining an arsenal deep and ready to defend our people and our interests.” However, officials in Ukraine are begging for more Patriots to defend against Russian missile attacks, while previous transfers from the United States to Ukraine have depleted some of the American supply of interceptors. kyiv says only American-made Patriots can stop Russia’s advanced ballistic missiles, which increasingly 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 turning point for the reduction in inventories, said Ed Arnold, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a military think tank in London. The supply to Ukraine was reasonably planned and measured, he said, while stocks in the Middle East were depleted unexpectedly and quickly, exposing the limitations of supply chain. 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 missiles to destroy Europa bunkers. has few alternatives while supplies are low. The 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. missile, predicts its trajectory and launches it within minutes, while performing complex calculations to ensure that the interceptor finds its target. A Patriot battery can only cover a limited area: for example, a small military base but not an entire city. An alternative could be the SAMP/T NG air defense system from France and Italy. battle-tested and the current version of the SAMP/T has a shorter range than the Patriot. While 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 could be at risk of being sunk. Stocks of Patriots have plummeted during the Iran war. The Biden administration, said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine colonel who is now a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. a production target of 2,000 Patriot missiles a year set for 2030, Cancian said. NATO says Europe’s first Patriot missile production facility is expected 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. 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. Russia also has limitations: Moscow probably cannot carry out a sustained air strike against a NATO target while launching almost 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. retaliation strike. “The inconvenient truth is that possibly the best air defense we have is Russian limitations,” Arnold said.___Burrows reported from London. Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin and Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.
