According to the Financial Times, US authorities recently warned Tokyo that deliveries of 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles could be delayed. The reported reason is Washington’s need to rebuild ammunition stocks that have been sharply depleted by the crisis in the Middle East.

Citing sources, the newspaper said Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth informed Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi in early May that the delivery schedule would be pushed back. The Financial Times noted that Washington signaled the original timeline for supplying the missiles could slip by around two years.

The publication reported that the United States told Japan to expect serious delays in the delivery of the 400 Tomahawk missiles as the Pentagon focuses on replenishing munitions heavily used during the military campaign against Iran.

According to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, which is designated as an undesirable organization in Russia, US forces used more than 1,000 Tomahawk missiles during the first five weeks of the war against Iran. Analysts said the United States had around 3,100 such missiles in its arsenal before the fighting began.