Japan’s Strategic Tomahawk Acquisition Face Significant Delays as Middle East Conflict Depletes United States Missile Stockpiles

U.S. missile inventories are being depleted by the conflict with Iran, causing delays in Japan's critical 400-missile Tomahawk order intended to deter China.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 3, 2026, 9:54 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from The Japan Times

Inventory Depletion Amid Escalating Regional Conflict

The ongoing military operations in the Middle East have placed an unprecedented strain on the United States’ inventory of precision-guided munitions. According to sources familiar with the matter, the U.S. military has launched hundreds of Tomahawk missiles during sustained attacks on Iranian targets, a rate of consumption that far outpaces current production capabilities. Before the escalation, American stockpiles were estimated at roughly 4,000 units, but the high volume of strikes has effectively exhausted more than two years of combined manufacturing and upgrade output in a matter of months.

Disruption of Tokyo’s Counterstrike Strategy

This supply shortage directly impacts Japan’s national security timeline, as the Tomahawk order is a cornerstone of Tokyo’s transition toward possessing "counterstrike capabilities." Japan had planned to integrate approximately 400 of these long-range missiles by March 2028 to deter regional threats from China and North Korea. However, the current deficit in U.S. inventories has forced Washington to notify Japanese officials that the original delivery schedule is under threat, potentially leaving a gap in Japan’s planned defensive posture during a period of heightened geopolitical tension.

The Production Reality of RTX and Block V Upgrades

The industrial capacity to replenish these sophisticated weapons remains a bottleneck for the trilateral security environment. Records indicate that RTX, the manufacturer of the Tomahawk, produced only about 100 new missiles in 2025, while an additional 240 older units were retrofitted to the modern Block V standard. Because the current conflict is burning through these assets faster than they can be built or upgraded, the U.S. is facing difficult choices regarding which allies receive priority for remaining stocks, a situation that has now trickled down to affect its primary strategic partner in Asia.