US investigators are probing who disclosed sensitive information about depleted stocks of long-range missiles and air-defence interceptors, while officials warn that unauthorised disclosures could compromise national security.
BY PC Bureau
September 5, 2026: The Pentagon has subjected dozens of senior military and civilian officials to polygraph tests as part of an unusually broad investigation into leaks about US weapons stockpiles during the war with Iran, according to US officials.
The inquiry followed media reports that the United States was rapidly depleting stocks of some advanced munitions, including long-range missiles and air-defence interceptors. Several dozen officials were reportedly tested earlier this summer, including personnel from the Joint Staff and US Central Command.
Investigators asked whether officials had provided classified information to journalists or discussed sensitive figures concerning US munitions inventories. The scale of the testing was described by officials as highly unusual, raising concerns inside the Pentagon that the exercise was intended not only to identify a possible source but also to deter further disclosures.
The Joint Staff, the Pentagon’s senior military advisory body, has roughly 1,500 to 2,000 personnel. Not all senior officers were subjected to testing. Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was not among those tested, according to a senior Pentagon official cited by CBS News.
No official has been publicly identified as the source of the disclosures, and there has been no indication that anyone failed the polygraph questions related to the alleged leaks.
The investigation has taken on added significance because the leaked information concerned the US military’s ability to sustain a prolonged conflict.
Earlier reports indicated that American forces had been consuming large quantities of precision weapons during the Iran conflict. President Donald Trump rejected claims of a serious ammunition shortage in August, saying the United States had “massive amounts” of munitions and that production was being rapidly expanded. He also threatened long prison sentences for those responsible for what he described as damaging leaks.
CBS News previously reported that US forces had used virtually all of their global stock of Army Tactical Missile Systems and Precision Strike Missiles, citing sources with direct knowledge. The Pentagon has also faced pressure to replenish weapons used during the conflict. In July, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators that the administration was seeking $67 billion in additional funding, including money to replace equipment consumed during recent operations.
JUST IN: 🇺🇸 50 members of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff are under investigation for leaking information about Iran war to the press 🇮🇷📰
SecWar Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon just performed roughly 50 POLYGRAPH tests to root out LEAKERS to the fake news from within the US Joint Staff —… pic.twitter.com/zJ11TbTE9G
— Sergeant News Network (@sgtnewsnetwork) September 5, 2026
The Pentagon has declined to provide details of the current investigation. Spokesman Sean Parnell said the department takes unauthorised disclosures of classified national-security information seriously and considers protection of sensitive information essential to the safety of US forces.
The probe is also examining the possibility that the disclosures could have involved more than an unauthorised conversation with the media. According to CBS News, officials were concerned about whether an individual with access to sensitive weapons information could potentially have been acting on behalf of a foreign intelligence service. The FBI was not involved in the polygraph examinations, which were conducted by military investigators.
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The Pentagon’s concern is understandable. Precise information about weapons inventories, production rates and interceptor stocks can reveal not only how much firepower the United States possesses but also how long it might sustain a particular campaign. Such information can have operational and strategic consequences if obtained by an adversary.
At the same time, the controversy highlights the tension between operational secrecy and public accountability during wartime. Reports about depleted stocks can have implications for congressional funding, defence production and US military readiness. The administration has disputed some of the reporting while acknowledging that certain weapons are under tighter supply.
🚨🇺🇸 BREAKING: The Pentagon polygraphed 50 members of the Joint Staff to find who leaked that the Iran war is draining its missiles
Investigators ran the tests in August, asking officers and civilian staff whether they gave classified information to reporters and, specifically,… pic.twitter.com/z29trQER2i
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 5, 2026
The scale of the leak investigation is therefore attracting attention in its own right. Polygraph examinations are sometimes used as part of security procedures for senior officials, but subjecting several dozen people in connection with a single leak investigation is considered unusual.
For now, the central questions remain unanswered: Who disclosed the information, precisely what classified material was leaked, and whether the disclosures came from one source or several?
The Pentagon has not publicly named a suspect. Until it does, the polygraph campaign remains as much a warning to the military bureaucracy as an effort to identify a leaker: sensitive information about America’s war-making capacity is being treated as a closely guarded national-security secret.
