How Many Tomahawk Missiles Does the US Have Left in 2026?

Before February 28, 2026, the US stockpile of Tomahawk cruise missiles was most likely between about 3,100 and 4,500, based on independent estimates published in March 2026. The Pentagon has never released an official figure, and the low and high estimates differ by more than a thousand missiles.

The Navy has bought roughly 9,000 Tomahawks since the program began, but thousands of those were early versions that have been fired, used in tests or retired. Raytheon, which builds the missile in Tucson, Arizona, says Tomahawks have been used in combat more than 2,350 times.

The lowest serious estimate, about 3,100, has become the most widely used benchmark. Some defense analysts argued the true figure was nearer 4,000 to 4,500. Others said it could be lower than 3,000.

The US fired more than 850 Tomahawks in the first four weeks of the war with Iran, and more than 1,000 by the April 8, 2026, ceasefire. That is roughly a third of the lowest pre-war estimate, and the largest number of Tomahawks ever used in a single campaign.

The first salvos went out on the opening night, February 28, from destroyers such as USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. Many of the 850 were fired in the first days of the operation.

Fighting has continued at a lower level since the ceasefire, as our count of how many missiles Iran has left describes, so the true total is probably higher than 1,000. Some later figures run well above that, but none has been confirmed on the record. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on March 5 there was “no shortage of munitions,” and the Pentagon has not said how many Tomahawks remain.

Subtracting more than 1,000 fired from the pre-war estimates leaves the US with roughly 2,000 to 3,500 Tomahawks as of October 2026, with the lower half of that range the more likely. New production adds little so far: the Navy expected about 110 new missiles in the whole 2026 fiscal year.

The location of those missiles matters as much as the total. The spring salvos may have used nearly all the Tomahawks the Navy had in the Middle East, so most of what remains sits in depots at home or aboard ships in other regions, above all the Pacific. Destroyers generally have to return to port to reload their launch cells.

A single Ohio-class guided-missile submarine carries up to 154 Tomahawks, so two such boats on station hold more than 300. That is why the Navy can still mount large strikes even with a smaller stock, and also why the pace of the opening weeks of the Iran war could not be repeated for long.

Before 2026, Raytheon built roughly 60 to 100 new Tomahawks a year. Congress funded fewer than 60 new missiles in the 2026 budget, for about $257 million. The Navy and Raytheon now plan to raise output to more than 1,000 a year under a $22.9 billion, seven-year contract announced on August 17, 2026.

The contract followed a framework agreement Raytheon signed with the Pentagon on February 4, 2026. Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said the deal would speed up production at “unprecedented speed.” Raytheon has not said when it will reach 1,000 a year.

For the 2027 fiscal year, the Navy asked Congress for 785 Tomahawks, a little over $3 billion including upgrades to older missiles. That is more than 13 times the 2026 quantity. Each missile takes up to two years to build, and the cycle from budget to delivery is longer still, so replacing what was fired will take years, not months. Estimates for a full return to pre-war stocks run to 2030 or later.

A new Tomahawk costs roughly $2 million to $3.6 million, depending on the version and the year it is bought. Recent Navy budget documents priced a new Block V missile at about $2 million, while the newest versions run up to about $3.6 million each, according to Navy documents from 2026.

At those prices, the more than 1,000 missiles fired at Iran represent somewhere between $2 billion and $3.6 billion in weapons alone. That is far less than the cost of the air defense interceptors fired in the same war, such as a THAAD interceptor at about $12.7 million each.

The Tomahawk can strike targets about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away. The missile is about 20 feet long, weighs about 3,500 pounds, flies low at subsonic speed and is guided by GPS and onboard navigation, with a data link that lets crews change its target in flight.

The current Block V is a modernized Block IV with better navigation and communications. The Block Va version can hit moving ships at sea, and the Block Vb carries a warhead designed for a wider range of land targets.

The US Navy fires Tomahawks from Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, Ticonderoga-class cruisers and attack and guided-missile submarines. The US Army’s Typhon launcher fires them from land, and the Marine Corps is buying its own. Among US allies, the UK Royal Navy fires Tomahawks from submarines. Australia was approved to buy 220 and test-fired its first from HMAS Brisbane in December 2024. Japan agreed to buy 400. The Netherlands test-fired its first from the frigate HNLMS De Ruyter in early 2025.

Those foreign orders compete for the same production line. Japan’s order, originally due by March 2028, now faces possible delays as the US pulls on Raytheon’s output to refill its own cruise missile stocks after the Iran war.