The world is on the cusp of a third missile age, with conventional ballistic weapons proliferating at unprecedented speed in the wake of widespread, battlefield-warping deployment in Iran and Ukraine.

Those two wars have seen the use of thousands of air- and surface-launched ballistic missiles. Iran alone has fired about 2,000 since that conflict began on the last day of February, causing massive damage throughout the region and eroding stockpiles of hard-to-replace interceptors.

Domestically produced Iranian ballistic missiles have altered the trajectory of the conflict, keeping Iran in the fight despite U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth saying in mid-March that Tehran’s military had been destroyed. Five months later, Iranian missiles continue to hit targets around the Gulf, including an attack on July 17 that killed U.S. troops, and then a wave of strikes overnight targeting American forces in the region.