Pentagon Tells Lawmakers Initial Price Tag Exceeds $11.3bn, With Broader Costs Still Uncounted.
Six days. $11.3 billion. And that may be only the beginning. How much will this war really cost?
The war against Iran has already cost the United States more than $11.3 billion in its first six days, according to Pentagon officials who delivered a classified briefing to lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
The figure, first reported by The New York Times and confirmed by the Associated Press and the Guardian, represents the most detailed cost assessment Congress has received so far. Yet officials cautioned that the total does not capture the full scope of spending tied to the opening phase of the conflict.
According to two people familiar with the briefing, the $11.3 billion estimate largely reflects munitions expenditures. It does not include broader operational costs such as troop deployments, medical care, logistics, or the replacement of aircraft and equipment lost during combat.
In the early days of the campaign, the United States spent roughly $2 billion per day on munitions, the Guardian reported previously. That daily cost later declined to around $1 billion as the Pentagon shifted to less expensive weapons. Officials expect the per-day cost to fall further unless fighting escalates.
The initial wave of strikes relied heavily on high-end precision-guided weapons, including the AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon, a glide bomb priced between approximately $578,000 and $836,000 per unit. The U.S. Navy purchased about 3,000 of those munitions nearly two decades ago.
As the operation continued, the military increasingly turned to cheaper alternatives such as the Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAM. While the smallest JDAM warhead costs roughly $1,000, the guidance kit that transforms conventional bombs into precision weapons adds about $38,000 per unit.
The growing price tag comes as President Donald Trump faces mounting scrutiny from lawmakers questioning both the duration and the strategic objectives of the conflict. The Pentagon has declined to comment publicly on the campaign’s overall cost.
What remains unclear is how much higher the true bill will climb. Beyond weapons, war brings sustained logistical commitments: maintaining naval strike groups in the region, rotating troops, sustaining air operations, and covering medical and reconstruction expenses.
With oil markets volatile and economic pressures building at home, the financial burden of the conflict is becoming a central part of the debate in Washington.
The $11.3 billion figure offers the first concrete measure of the war’s cost. It may also prove to be only the opening installment.
