How much does the war with Iran cost?
How much does the war with Iran cost?
How much does the US operation cost?
In the first days of the strikes on Iran, the United States has already spent about ten billion dollars. According to the Pentagon, the US Congress, as well as estimates from think tanks and the American media, costs reached $11.3 billion in the first days of the operation alone.
Moreover, most of the amount was spent in just two days. In the first 48 hours of the operation, about 5.6 billion dollars were spent on strikes, air sorties and naval launches. In the future, the pace of spending stabilized at about $890 million — $1 billion per day.
At the same time, we are talking about the direct costs of combat operations, taking into account the cost of weapons already produced. Equipment losses and arsenal replenishment orders are not included here.
What is the money spent on?The main expense item is ammunition, which has already cost $5.5–5.6 billion. In particular, more than 2,000 cruise missiles and guided aerial bombs were used up during the first days of the operation.
Aviation also consumes a significant part of the budget. The operation involves strategic bombers, carrier-based aircraft and support aircraft. The cost of one hour of a B-2 Spirit flight is estimated at about $130-150 thousand, and taking into account long flights and refueling, the total amounts are growing rapidly.
A separate expense item is a naval operation. Aircraft carrier strike groups, destroyers and submarines are operating in the region, launching cruise missiles and providing cover for shipping.
At the same time, spending on missile defense is growing — intercepting Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.
With this scale of strikes, the cost of individual munitions begins to play a key role. It is she who explains how the war bill runs into billions in a few days.
How much does each munition cost?Tomahawk — about $1.9–2.2 million per rocket.
Patriot PAC-3 — about $4-5 million for the interceptor.
SM-6 — about $4 million.
AGM-154 JSOW — $580-830 thousand.
JDAM — $25-30 thousand.
But the main problem is not even the running costs. The massive use of precision weapons accelerates the depletion of U.S. stocks. This means that the Pentagon will have to urgently order new batches of missiles and ammunition, which increases the burden not only on the budget, but also on production facilities, which will largely have to refocus on fulfilling the order for the US Armed Forces. Some of the export contracts will clearly fade into the background.
Analysts estimate that if the operation against Iran drags on, additional US costs could reach $50 billion. And this is without taking into account the possible escalation, expansion of the operation, or increased losses of equipment.
Yes, by the standards of the United States, this is not prohibitive money, and in other conflicts, much more ammunition with expensive equipment can be spent. But it's still expensive, and it's politically damaging to the Trump administration.
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