Officials warn US may lack capacity to intercept full wave of Iranian drones.

Top military leaders told legislators in a closed‑door briefing on Tuesday that they may not be able to intercept every Iranian drone aimed at U.S. bases and assets in retaliatory strikes, according to two sources familiar with the discussion.

The briefing, headed by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, noted that Iran has been fielding thousands of one‑way attack drones. While U.S. forces can neutralise the great majority of the onslaught, some will inevitably get through.

Consequently, the officials said in a classified session for Capitol Hill lawmakers that the United States is concentrating on destroying the drones’ launch points and the associated conventional missiles as swiftly as possible. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to protect sensitive information.

In response to U.S. attacks, Iran has been firing low‑cost, one‑way Shahed drones. Their low‑altitude, slow‑speed flight profile makes them harder for traditional air‑defence systems to track than ballistic missiles.

A senior administration official described Iran’s apparent drone tactic – to force the United States to expend its most advanced Patriot and THAAD interceptors – as flawed and ineffective, noting that the U.S. has been shooting down the drones with a variety of methods.

Nevertheless, leading Democrats in Congress have voiced worries that the United States is depleting its interceptor inventory while countering Iranian ballistic missiles. Caine recognised that concern, a person familiar with the matter said, even as he publicly affirmed confidence in current stockpiles.

“We have ample precision munitions for the mission, both offensively and defensively,” Caine told reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday morning, though he offered no further specifics.

The high tempo of engagements has been costly. In the opening days of the conflict, U.S. expenditures ran about $2 billion per day; that figure has fallen to roughly $1 billion and is expected to decline further as the war proceeds, according to a source familiar with a preliminary Department of Defense assessment.

A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and a Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson declined to speak, citing operational security.

On Monday night, former President Trump posted on social media that the United States could maintain its firing rate indefinitely, claiming the stockpile of “medium and upper‑medium‑grade” munitions was “virtually unlimited.” He added, however, that weapons at the “highest end” were “not where we want them to be.”

At a Wednesday press briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the United States possessed more than enough arms to sustain a prolonged conflict with Iran and suggested Trump’s comment was aimed at criticizing the Biden administration’s decision to supply weapons to Ukraine.