The US running out of “Patriot” missiles for Europe. AP writes that this could weaken NATO

The US military is facing an "extremely critical" shortage of “Patriot” interceptor missiles in Europe, partly due to the US war against Iran.

This was reported by the Associated Press, citing sources.

The current stockpile of Patriot missiles in Europe is not sufficient to repel a sustained ballistic strike, a US official said. A NATO official confirmed that “Patriot” stockpiles with US and allied forces in Europe are low.

The reason for the shortage, in particular, was the transfer of some American ammunition from Europe to the Middle East. The United States and its allies are spending a significant number of interceptor missiles to repel Iranian attacks. At the same time, American “Patriot” stocks have already been reduced due to the supply of these systems and missiles to Ukraine after 2022.

According to the American representative, in the event of a large-scale Russian ballistic missile strike on a European NATO country, for example on a military headquarters or energy facility, the Alliance could find itself in a situation like in Ukraine.

At the same time, NATO denies that the situation with Patriot stocks is so critical. The Allianceʼs senior military representative Colonel Martin OʼDonnell said that claims about the "extremely critical" level of stocks in Europe are not true. According to him, NATO has enough ammunition for its own defense and continued support for Ukraine.

The US military in Europe is also facing a shortage of ATACMS, medium-range ballistic missiles designed to hit targets deep inside enemy territory.

One of the alternatives to “Patriot” is the Franco-Italian SAMP/T NG air defense system, according to the media. However, this version has a shorter range than the “Patriot”, and the new SAMP/T NG modification has not yet been tested in combat conditions.

“Patriot” missiles for Ukraine

Ukraine regularly reports a shortage of Patriot missiles. On July 29, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that during his last meeting with Trump at the White House, he asked him to provide Ukraine with an emergency “winter package” of 300 “Patriot” interceptor missiles. The media reported that Trump refused, in part because of the shortage of these missiles in the United States.

According to the president, in the first half of 2026, Ukraine received three times fewer air defense missiles than last year. The official reason, which Kyiv was informed by its partners, was the hostilities in the Middle East.

In early July, at the NATO summit in Ankara, the US president said that Washington would grant Kyiv a license to produce “Patriot” missiles. However, he later noted that the US “must be very careful” about allowing Ukraine to produce “Patriot” missiles. The Telegraph reported that Trump changed his mind over concerns that the technology could fall into Russian hands.

On August 5, Reuters reported that despite Trumpʼs public statements, the US Vice President J.D. Vance assured the Ukrainian leadership in a telephone conversation that the agreements remained in effect.

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