One question that has beset the United States’ war with Iran is how much it cost them, with Pentagon officials now putting a price to it. At the congressional hearing on Wednesday, the US’ defence department officials said that the war so far has cost them $25 billion, a figure that drew skepticism.
The $25 billion dollar figure presented by the Pentagon may be underestimating the actual cost of the war but by a significant margin, Bloomberg reported citing analysts. According to the news agency’s calculations based on Pentagon’s data, the cost of a portion of munitions, damaged equipment and operating expenses alone would amount to $14 billion. A breakdown of this includes $8 billion for munitions, $5 billion for replacement of damaged aircraft and equipment and the rest $1 billion for operating the aircraft carriers and 16 destroyers in the region throughout the active period of war that started on February 28.
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The cost presented by the defence department also does not take into account expenses such as repairing of damaged US facilities in West Asia which took multiple hits during the war, operational costs of ships and aircrafts in the region in the run up to the war before February 28 and also the current blockade by the US navy.
Pentagon’s acting comptroller Jules Hurst, while talking about what the presented figure includes, said used munitions and operation costs. However, he did not give a complete breakdown of the costs in the hearing.
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‘Low ball figure’
According to Stimson Center’s senior fellow Kelly Grieco, the figure does not include base damage, operating costs, and also the defence department’s own rising fuel bills. “The Pentagon’s $25 billion figure is clearly a narrow accounting of what it cost to fight the war,” Grieco was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the cost of munitions alone would be $25 billion and senator Richard Blumenthal said earlier that he was given war expense estimates of $2 billion a day, which he considers to be a “low-ball figure”.
Hegseth’s first congressional hearing since war began
Defence secretary Pete Hegseth faced the Congress for the first time on Wednesday, April 29, since the war with Iran began. During the House Armed Services Committee hearing, which lasted for around six hours to discuss the Trump administration’s whopping $1.5 trillion defence budget, Hegseth argued with democrats and even some republicans regarding the cost of war and the impact it has had on the munition stockpile.
During the hearing, Hegseth shied away from answering how long the war will go on and how much more costs it could potentially add. He also maintained that the strike on Iran’s elementary school in Minab, in which over 150 children died, is under investigation.
Hegseth will face the hearing for the second day on Thursday.
(With inputs from Bloomberg)