Krugman: US has burned through half its Patriot missiles, straining Iran operations
In a Substack essay published on 28 July 2026, economist Paul KrugmanDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → argues that President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have degraded U.S. military readiness through strategic incompetence, politicised leadership and a command culture that suppresses bad news — a pattern he likens to the failures associated with Putin's Russia.
His central claim is that the United States is curtailing operations against Iran chiefly because stocks of advanced munitions are critically depleted, not because of public opposition or economic cost. Krugman cites a CSIS estimate that the U.S. has expended more than half of its pre-war Patriot missiles and may need until 2029 to replace them. He contends the administration failed to anticipate predictable constraints — limited supplies of sophisticated weapons and Iran's ability to close the Strait of Hormuz.
Krugman also points to reports that Hegseth's purges of senior officers created a “culture of silence” that may have prevented accurate information on munitions shortages from reaching decision-makers. He cites the removal of Admiral Lisa Franchetti and General Randy George as evidence that ideological loyalty displaced military competence and modernisation expertise.
Why it matters: if the reported shortages and command failures are accurate, the Iran conflict has exposed a multi-year deterioration in U.S. military readiness rather than a single failed campaign.
