The US fired over $22 billion in munitions fighting Iran and created stockpile shortages in the process, watchdog finds

US forces expended more than $22 billion in weapons fighting Iran, a new Pentagon watchdog report revealed.

US Navy photo The US military fired $22 billion in weapons fighting Iran, a new watchdog report has found.

The high expenditure rate has created shortages of strategic munitions.

Experts have warned that the US could find itself insufficiently armed for a future conflict.

US forces fired more than $22 billion in munitions fighting Iran this year, draining critical weapons stockpiles in the process, a new Defense Department watchdog report says.

The Pentagon inspector general's report, which was published Monday evening, estimated the cost of Operation Epic Fury , which began on February 28, to be $33.4 billion as of June 29.

That tally includes $22.3 billion for expended munitions.

The new report, which offers a fresh account of the war's financial impact , cites the munitions expenditure figure to the Pentagon's budget office and said the estimate was based on replacement costs.

Munitions expenditure during the war "has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply," the report said.

To address the issues, the report said, the Pentagon "is working to streamline procurement processes and production lead times" and to stockpile critical materials, components, and munitions.

The White House and Pentagon leadership have repeatedly denied any reports of munitions shortages during the Iran war.

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Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, told CBS News recently that he was "not concerned" about munitions inventories and said the US is "armed and ready for any contingency." A US Marine Corps F-35 takes off in the Middle East.

US Marine Corps photo US forces struck more than 13,000 Iranian targets during the first few weeks of the conflict, employing expensive missiles launched from fighter jets, warships, and ground-based launchers.