WASHINGTON — The Navy’s top officer is “of course” worried that the conflict in Iran is eroding the US military’s readiness globally and its ability to deter near-peer threats like China.
“It’s a mathematical certainty that if you consume a fixed resource, then your ability to bring that to bear on another problem set is diminished by the amount you subtract it,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said today at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event when asked about deterring Beijing. “So it’d be silly for me to say anything other than I’m concerned. Readiness is being consumed. I mean, we’re built to do that. I mean, it’s a conflict. And so we’re designed to go do that.”
“So now the challenge that you’re getting at is how do you buy down risk in other parts of the world while you’re focusing a lot of resources in one area,” Caudle said.
Caudle specifically pointed to the number of munitions used against Iran, saying that stockpiles have “taken a hit.” The US has employed hundreds of Tomahawk land attack missiles, as well as Patriot interceptors and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile systems, since Iran operations began on Feb. 28. As of March 28, the US military has struck more than 11,000 targets, and destroyed or damaged more than 150 Iranian vessels, according to US Central Command (CENTCOM).
While US leadership has maintained the US has plenty of munitions, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters earlier this month that the Pentagon intends to request Capitol Hill for supplemental funds for operations in the Middle East and to restock depleted stores.
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Additionally, Caudle said he expects the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford to remain at sea for 11-months — much longer than the service’s standard seven-month deployment. The Ford originally got underway in June 2025, and its deployment has since been extended such that it could break previous records set during the Vietnam-era.
Today The Wall Street Journal reported the US is sending the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush to CENTCOM’s area of responsibility, the third carrier to support operations in the region. US buildup has also involved transferring weapons from the Pacific theater to the Middle East.
SOUTHCOM As A Navy ‘Test Bed’
Caudle’s comments come after he released his Fighting Instructions guidance in February, which outlines a framework to supplement carrier strike groups with customizable forces and provide combatant commanders fresh, mission-specific formation patterns.
The plans also detail ways to advance a “hedge strategy,” which aims to capitalize on unmanned systems and ultimately provide a range of tailored options in an attempt to maximize flexibility.
Today Caudle said that US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) will likely serve as a “test bed” for trying out various tailored forces, and that he is currently working with SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis Donovan to provide the right force packages to address key operational problems in the region.
“What does he need an enduring package [to] look like?” Caudle asked. “Like an afloat forward staging base, an LCS? Can you do something with an LPD? And can I put together a thing that solves his problem? That’s not a natural muscle memory thing for us in the Navy.
“So a lot of this work that has to be done is figuring out what those things look like, and then how do I certify them because they fall outside our traditional strike group,” he said. “So I’ve got to go re-tune how that looks like as well.”
