WASHINGTON - The war in Iraq has taken its toll on the United States' stockpile of Tomahawks, depleting supplies of the Navy's favorite long-range cruise missile at a time when production lines are shut down and new missiles won't be ready for a year or more.
Pentagon planners say they have more than enough Tomahawks to finish the war, and a major naval resupply operation in the Persian Gulf region is keeping the Navy stocked with Tomahawks and other armaments.
But the frequency of Tomahawk strikes in Iraq has slowed, partly because of dwindling supplies, Pentagon officials say.
And some analysts say the punishing assault on Iraq has left the nation's supply of Tomahawks spread precariously thin throughout the rest of the world - with no quick means of replenishment.
`Didn't buy enough'
"This is a major misstep in terms of Pentagon planning," said Loren B. Thompson, a defense analyst for the Lexington Institute, a Northern Virginia think tank.
"The whole value of the surface fleet depends on its ability to use Tomahawk missiles to attack inland targets. They didn't buy enough of them."
The Tomahawk has emerged as one of the Pentagon's most favored airstrike weapons. It can deliver a 1,000-pound bomb as far as 1,000 miles away, with a high degree of accuracy and without putting a pilot and aircrew at risk.
Most of the United States' recent conflicts have begun with a Tomahawk strike. The nation fired more than 300 during the Persian Gulf war of 1991 and launched hundreds more in the subsequent decade against targets in Iraq, Bosnia and Kosovo.
No previous strike compares, however, to the assault unleashed over the past two weeks.
Through yesterday, more than 725 Tomahawk missiles had been fired into Iraq during the latest war, according to Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
320 in one night
On one night - the "shock and awe" air attack of March 21 - the Navy launched 320 Tomahawks from 30 ships and submarines.
The Navy brought only about 1,000 Tomahawk missiles to the region in preparation for the war, roughly half the nation's stock worldwide. Still, Pentagon officials say the supply is adequate.
More missiles have been moved into the area, and the Tomahawk's long-distance strike role has become less important as the Army and Marine Corps advance toward Baghdad with tanks and artillery, the officials say.
