Iran’s missile strategy appears to be working: initial heavy missile (& drone) barrages drained Israeli interceptors, and now fewer launches are landing more hits.

This points to better accuracy, degraded defenses, and a shift to inflicting long-term attrition on Israel.

Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI): “The latest round of conflict in the Middle East utilized, large amounts of munitions to defend Israel from Iranian strikes. Does the Navy currently have all the SM3s it needs for global threats?”

ADMIRAL JAMES KILBY / NAVAL OPERATIONS ACTING CHIEF: “I'll take this. We do, sir, but we are to your point, using them at an alarming rate. As you know, those are, missiles procured by the Missile Defense Agency and then delivered to the Navy for our use. And we are using them quite effectively in the defense of Israel.”

Earlier today, CNN reported that, per a leaked top secret assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Iranian nuclear program has at worst been set back by a couple of months. Per the report, the core components of the program remain intact and either continue to function or have been evacuated to secret nuclear facilities that were not targeted.

Although denied strenuously by Trump's Press Secretary Leavitt, who stated the assessment is “flat out wrong”, CNN’s reporting has now been backed up by reporting from the New York Times, ABC News, the Associated Press and the Washington Post in America as well as Channel 14 in Israel. Adding to CNN’s earlier findings, the NYT reports that Iran's enriched uranium stockpile was mostly moved before the strikes and is currently in unknown locations unknown to both the Americans and Israelis.

Bertrand: …And what we are told is that as of now, this defense intelligence agency assessment, it does conclude at this point… that those underground facilities, including the centrifuges, including the highly enriched uranium that everyone has been talking so much about, those are largely intact.

Israel’s military is running low on some key weaponry as Trump tries to hold together a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran, according to three U.S. officials. 

Israel is specifically low on munitions, two of the officials said.

The shortage comes amid tensions between Trump and Netanyahu over Trump’s push for a ceasefire after 12 days of strikes between Israel and Iran. 

A spokesperson for the Israeli government did not respond to a request for comment. 

A defense official declined to comment. 

At the same time, acting Chief of Naval Operations James Kilby testified today before the Senate that while the U.S. Navy has enough of the missiles it needs to defend Israel, the United States is using them “at an alarming rate.”

The United States has helped defend Israel against a barrage of Iranian attacks in the past two weeks.