Pentagon Is Pulling Ships, Aircraft and Air Defenses Out of Europe and Asia to Feed the Iran War, Officials Say

The Iran campaign has forced the Pentagon to rush ships, aircraft and air-defense units from across Europe and Asia to the Middle East as U.S. stockpiles have been depleted, U.S. officials told The New York Times in an account published Aug. 8. The officials said the effort has had cascading consequences for equipment maintenance and troop morale and has caused concern in the military and intelligence communities. No figures for the units moved were released.

Shifting air defenses and naval assets out of Europe and the Indo-Pacific reduces what is available for standing commitments there for as long as the campaign continues, and the effect compounds as units surged out of rotation return needing deferred maintenance. What is described is the assessment of officials speaking anonymously, not a published readiness review.

The Pentagon has not commented publicly on the redeployments or released a readiness accounting.