US Attacks On Yemen Are Draining Arms Needed To Deter China: Defense Officials

At the moment, amid ongoing Yemen operations the US has sent two aircraft carriers, deployed a significant number of B-2 stealth bombers and fighter jets, as well as deployed missile defense systems to the Middle East.

But some top US officials have argued that China remains the top ‘pacing threat’ and rival. These officials fear that Washington is overcommitting itself to the anti-Houthi campaign, and blowing through valuable resources which will be hard to replace quickly.

Some defense officials also fear US force readiness in the Pacific is being hurt by the commitment to the Red Sea theatre. This is precisely what some told the NY Times in a fresh report.

“U.S. commanders planning for a possible conflict with China are increasingly concerned that the Pentagon will soon need to move long-range precision weapons from stockpiles in the Asia-Pacific region to the Middle East, congressional officials say,” The Times writes. “That is because of the large amount of munitions that the United States is using in a bombing campaign in Yemen ordered by President Trump.”

At this point both CNN and the NYT Times say the Yemen campaign has surpassed a one billion dollar price tag after just three weeks of bombing raids.

And yet the Houthis haven’t given up, but have continued launching attacks on Israel and US warships off Yemen’s coast. They have also claimed to have downed several expensive MQ-9 Reaper drones.

According to more from NYT:

Several Trump aides, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Elbridge Colby, the under secretary of defense for policy, have said that the United States must prioritize strengthening its forces in the Asia-Pacific region to deter China, which is rapidly building up its military and its nuclear arsenal.

Those officials argue that U.S. arms support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia and decades of military campaigns in the Middle East and Afghanistan have siphoned off important resources from Asia. If Israel attacks Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites in the coming months and ignites a wider Middle East war, the Trump administration would almost certainly commit more U.S. military resources to the region.

The New York Times reported last week that the monthlong bombing campaign was much larger than the Pentagon had publicly disclosed. The Pentagon used up about $200 million of munitions in the first three weeks alone, U.S. officials said. The costs are much higher — well over $1 billion at this point — when operational and personnel expenses are taken into account, they added.

Of course, Ukraine has been a conflict the Pentagon has poured billions worth of its own arsenal into, dwindling US defense stockpiles.

Recently in the Middle East, American troops have paid the ultimate price for US defense preparedness being prioritized elsewhere…

“It’s maddening”
“Shameful”
US Army outpost that was attacked by a drone and 3 troops killed had asked and was denied new anti-drone defense system and radar 4 months earlier.
Yet we drew down our stockpiles for Kyiv.https://t.co/NhkkyKq26q

— Kelley B. Vlahos (@KelleyBVlahos) April 7, 2025

Whether in Yemen or Ukraine, Washington does not as yet have clearly defined mission goals. This has long been par for the course when it comes to US foreign adventurism abroad.

President Trump wants to rapidly wind down the Ukraine war, but has verbalized he’s ready to keep bombing Yemen until the Houthis relent in their attacks. And meanwhile, a push for a renewed Gaza ceasefire is nowhere on the horizon.