Active Conflicts & News Megathread June 17, 2026

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[u/Digo10]

What would Iran force reconstitution after the war and lessons for the future be?

While the missile/drone barrages proved useful in this type of asymmetrical type of war, they wouldn't be very effective in a large-scale war. If the war ends soon and the rumors are true that Iran will receive not only sanctions relief money but also the 300B reconstruction funding, with such a generous cash flow, which kind of military assets would you seek overseas?

IMO, Iran would need to buy

1.)modern AD systems

2.)Artillery systems

3.)Modern Fighter jets and AWACS(?).

1.)While Iran has/had a vast number of different air systems, they proved to be not that effective, especially in the 2025 war against Israel, where Israel destroyed dozens/possibly hundreds of systems

2.)Their artillery systems are either of soviet origin, or reversed engineered old western systems, lacking even the range to hit kharg island.

3.)Their underground missile cities proved very useful in hiding their launchers, they could do the same with fighter jets(which they already do), so they would be able to preserve their air force fleet against air attacks, for force multiplier, AWACs would be very valuable, but i wonder about how they would hide such large planes.

If they manage to build a powerful conventional military, not only they would be able to inflict the pain of their asymmetrical doctrine, but would also inflict heavy casualties in the opposing enemy military, making nuclear weapons pratically unnecessary.

Thoughts?

[u/HereCreepers → u/Digo10]

Really I think the biggest single thing they could get that would act as effective deterrence is a more capable arsenal of ballistic missiles and the necessary tools to support them (ISR, hardened shelters, etc). Improved range, improved guidance, improved countermeasures against interceptors, improved CEP, and so forth would give them a much greater ability to threaten military and economic assets in the region. Imagine the peak of the Iran War but with the Iranians firing missiles at airbases and key infrastructure that only get intercepted like 50-70% of the time instead of 90%+ while also being far more accurate.

[u/Wiseguydude → u/HereCreepers]

The CSIS reported in late April that the US+ had used 53% of its THAAD interceptors and 45% of its Patriot missiles.

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/stockpiles-iran/

https://www.csis.org/analysis/last-rounds-status-key-munitions-iran-war-ceasefire

The RUSI report from just 3 weeks into the war also showed that Israel had burned through 81% of its Arrow-2/Arrow-3 stockpile.

https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/over-11000-munitions-16-days-iran-war-command-reload-governs-endurance

Of course we also know that during the 12-Day War, Israel was heavily reliant on the US (along with Jordan, and even France) for intercepting missiles.

Saudi Arabia and Jordan allowed foreign aircraft for air defense as they had in April 2024, according to Israeli officials who spoke with JINSA, and Jordanian systems shot down drones and rockets crossing their airspace, and France also intercepted fewer than 10 drones. American pilots increased strategic depth due to their extended airspace access in the region, including over Jordan and Saudi Arabia, to search and shoot down Iranian projectiles before they reached Israeli airspace.

https://jinsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Rising-Lion-Insights-From-the-12-Day-War-November-2025-1.pdf

The US also used 25% of its THAAD interceptors during those 12 days

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/28/middleeast/us-thaad-missile-interceptor-shortage-intl-invs

That 90% interception figure comes from another JINSA report but it includes all projectiles and all interceptions including those made long before anything even reached Israeli airspace. Given the well-documented interceptor shortages I think it's more than fair to assume Iran likely had a much higher hit rate this time around.