Friday, March 27, 2026

Going Down Smooth*

Additionally, U.S. President Donald J. Trump has appointed Vice President JD Vance as the principal U.S. decision-maker to lead efforts to end the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. This, amidst an uptempo in Israeli strikes and promises by Israeli decision-makers to increase strikes on Iran.
Since the start of Operation Epic Fury, the ongoing strike campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran which began roughly four weeks ago on February 28, the U.S. Navy has utilized over 850 BGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missiles (TLAM) on targets throughout Iran, burning through precision weapons at a rate that has alarmed some Pentagon officials, according to the Washington Post.

Prior to the start of the Iran War, it was assessed by the American Enterprise Institute that the Navy had an inventory of between 4,000-4,500 Tomahawks, with only a few hundred being produced every year, while other naval analysts have said the number could be much lower, perhaps closer to 3,000, following their extensive use in recent operations, including the Trump Administration’s strikes last year in Iran, Yemen and Nigeria.
Kids breaking their toys and expecting Daddy to buy them some more. And for all that:
According to Reuters, citing sources with knowledge on the matter, the U.S. can only determine with certainty that they have destroyed about a third of Iran’s missile arsenal. Another third of the arsenal, buried in underground facilities that have been targeted in ongoing strikes, cannot be counted with certainty as destroyed.
But I was assured the war was over and Iran had no military left.
In addition to the 850 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM) that have been expended, the Washington Post reports that the U.S. military has also has fired more than 1,000 of its much more advanced and limited supply of air-defense interceptor missiles in defending against retaliatory attacks by Iran. These include hundreds of interceptors fired by the U.S. Army’s MIM-104 “Patriot” Surface-to-Air Missile and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Systems, and SM-3 Exoatmospheric Ballistic Missile Interceptors launched by Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers with the U.S. Navy.



*The title of a Robert Silverberg story about a computer (today we would say “AI”) programmed to provide psychological counseling, which slowly goes mad from exposure to its patients (learning!), and hides its neuroses from its programmers (more learning!)

Be careful what you ask for, lest the inmates take over the asylum.
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