Six U.S. servicemembers killed as Pentagon warns interceptor stocks are running low

Six US servicemembers died at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait after Iranian ballistic missile strikes overwhelmed air defenses on March 1-3, raising the confirmed US death toll in the first week of the Iran war. The Pentagon simultaneously acknowledged that the US Army had expended over 800 Patriot interceptor missiles in five days — a burn rate defense analysts said was unsustainable without emergency procurement. Defense officials confirmed interceptor replenishment lead times of 18-24 months, meaning no rapid resupply was possible.