News - Bloomberg: US to spend $1.2 billion to restock arms after Iran, proxies’ attacks

The Pentagon will spend about $1.2 billion to maintain ships deployed as part of operations in the Red Sea and to replenish stocks of missiles fired to repel attacks by Iran and its proxies, according to new budget documents, Bloomberg reports. The spending, detailed in two September 6 budget documents submitted to congressional defense committees and posted online, helps shine a light on the cost of maintaining a stepped-up presence in the region, as well as shooting down drones and missiles deployed by Iran and one of its proxies, the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The largest chunk of projected Pentagon spending from a year’s worth of Middle East operations is $300 million for unplanned depot maintenance on the USS Bataan amphibious assault ship and ships with the USS Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group that conducted Red Sea operations, the Pentagon said in the documents. The documents also reveal requests for $276 million to buy additional Standard Missile, SM-6 model weapons as well as by $57.3 million for Tomahawks cruise missiles. The spending is linked to “costs incurred by the DoD [(Department of Defense)] within the US Central Command region in responding to the situation in Israel or to hostile actions in the region as a direct result of the situation in Israel,” one of the documents says.