Key Lessons from the Iran–US War: Logistics
The war aims that the United States must achieve in its armed conflict against Iran have continued to shift since the first day the war was started by the United States and Israel. Initially, the United States stated that the war aim was regime change in Iran and the destruction of Iran’s military capacity, but midway through, that aim changed to preventing Tehran from possessing nuclear weapons. In recent months, the US war aim has shifted again to reopening the Strait of Hormuz so that oil supplies from the Persian Gulf region can return to pre-war conditions. The constantly changing war aims indicate that the war was not carefully planned, making it a political blunder for the United States because it is waging a war with objectives that are dynamically changing mid-course.
The open conflict between Iran and the United States and Israel, which has been ongoing since 28 February 2026, offers many lessons for other countries. The use of kinetic force in the form of conventional weapons has always featured in the mainstream international media, whether print, television or the internet. Meanwhile, the use of non-kinetic force has received very little coverage from the global mainstream media, possibly because each warring party does not wish to reveal to the public what is happening in cyberspace.
Another issue that has emerged from the war is the mental fatigue experienced by the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln due to uncertainty over when their deployment will end after around 250 days of continuous operations at sea. Although the 104,000-tonne carrier adopts nuclear propulsion, allowing it to sail for years, the crew remain ordinary human beings beset by a range of emotions at once, such as patriotism, certainty about the end of deployment, longing for loved ones and boredom. The existence of internet access on US warships, enabling crew members to contact their families, has not been able to eliminate or reduce the moral fatigue experienced over more than eight months.
In addition, an aircraft carrier such as the USS Abraham Lincoln still requires regular supplies of fresh food, and in wartime conditions supply depends on logistics ships because the carrier cannot replenish ashore. Besides supplying fresh food, another role played by logistics ships is to supply aviation fuel regularly so that the aircraft operated by the carrier can remain operational at any time. Food, whether in fresh or processed form, as well as fuel such as aviation fuel, is part of war logistics. Another branch of logistics is spare parts and munitions, and the munitions issue is recorded as the next lesson to be drawn from the kinetic conflict between two powers that have been hostile since 1979.
Given the arms and economic embargo imposed by the United States on Iran since the fall of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iran’s ability to develop weapons is very limited, so the development of ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle technology became the choice of the rulers in Tehran. By relying on ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, Iran has been able to put up fierce resistance to the United States and Israel, thereby contributing to strengthening the country’s strategic position against its two adversaries.
As a country with a strong defence industry backed by robust economic and research support, the United States has the ability to develop a wide range of kinetic weapons. In this year’s war against Iran, the country can be said to have exploited almost all of its conventional weapons, both offensive and defensive. The use of smart weapons such as missiles and smart bombs has become an inseparable part of every war involving the United States. The same is true in this open conflict against Iran, where the intensity of offensive and defensive weapons use is hundreds of times greater than when the United States invaded Iraq 23 years ago.
The problem is that as the war aims set by the United States continue to change, the duration of the war has become uncertain and is categorised by some as a forever war. In the logistics branch of munitions, there is a strategic consequence: stockpiles of certain types of missiles are increasingly depleted. Traditionally, US defence strategy stipulates that the US military must be able to wage war simultaneously in two theatres. There are concerns that the US Pacific Command cannot respond to crises and war in the Asia-Pacific region at full capacity because part of its munitions stock has been diverted to the US Central Command, which is conducting war operations against Iran.
Considering the characteristics of missiles as smart weapons because they are equipped with advanced computer systems and some use rare earth metal materials, the production process for missiles such as the PAC-3, THAAD, JASSM and Tomahawk requires a period of two to three years to return to pre-war levels before the war with Iran began. Lockheed Martin and RTX are currently recorded as the main suppliers of US-made missiles used in the war theatres in Iran and Ukraine, where munitions production cannot be accelerated because it depends on available production capacity. Although manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin have already invested US$9 billion to increase production capacity for missiles such as THAAD, PrSM and PAC-3, time is still needed.