Missiles worth $40 million a shot rack up US war costs in Iran

Missiles worth $40 million a shot rack up America's Iran war costs Fri 31 Jul 2026 at 6:20am A single shot fired from one of America's most high-end missile interceptors can cost up to $US28 million ($40 million). Over the past five months, analysts estimate the US may have used more than 100 of those Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) interceptors to help defend against Iran's ballistic missiles. Stockpiles of SM-3s are just one of the many critical munitions the Pentagon has been dipping into to carry out its Operation Epic Fury against Tehran — and it is costing them. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has put the price tag of the war so far at $US37.5 billion ($53.6 billion) and US politicians have approved even more funding. Missiles are reportedly among the US military's biggest war-related expenses and there is still no clear end to the conflict in sight. 'High use' of expensive weapons The US Defense Department's latest Iran war cost assessment was much higher than the $US25 billion estimate given to the Senate in April. Independent analysts believe the amount could be even greater, considering US officials said $US11.3 billion was spent in the first six days of the conflict alone. Nate Swanson, director of the Iran Strategy Project at the Atlantic Council and former State Department representative on the Trump administration's Iran negotiating team, said the true cost of the war so far was "certainly much higher". "That number really only accounts for the munitions spent, it does not account for damage to US facilities," he told ABC's Radio National Breakfast. "We have worn down US munitions in ways that were never really anticipated." In late June, soon after the US and Iran agreed to a 60-day ceasefire, the US Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimated the conflict had cost the US Department of Defense about $US40 billion. It estimated $US26 billion went towards munitions alone, with a "high use" of expensive, sophisticated weapons. "The thing that probably surprises me most was just how big a chunk of the cost was in munitions, particularly the high-end, expensive munitions," the report's co-author Mark Cancian, senior adviser with the CSIS Defense and Security Department, said. The non-profit think tank highlighted the heavy use of powerful air defence interceptors such as Patriot missiles, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) and SM-3s. The US has relied on the sophisticated interceptors to defend US assets in Gulf states, which have been a main target of Iranian drones and missiles attacks. Concerns have been raised about depletion rates for items such as Patriot and THAAD interceptors, stocks of which a CSIS report this week found were running significantly low. CNN reported that "three sources familiar with the matter" confirmed the CSIS estimates were "close to internal government figures". A US official also told America's ABC News the figures roughly reflect estimated usage rates. The US was also using large numbers of long-range ground attack munitions such as Tomahawk and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM). More than 1,000 of each of the missiles were estimated to have been fired, costing about $US1.5—$3.6 million each, according to CSIS analysis. Tomahawks are in high-demand globally and only a few hundred are manufactured a year. Price tags for big-ticket items Figures in the graphics below are based on CSIS estimates released before the breakdown of the June ceasefire and do not factor in weapons' usage since heavy bombings resumed earlier this month. Trump administration officials have not provided broken-down figures. The CSIS says its methodology combines Department of Defense initial cost releases, order-of-battle data, allied Gulf partner reporting, and "historical employment patterns". The Patriot is considered one of the most advanced air defence systems in the US arsenal. The mobile surface-to-air missile defence system was designed to be used against aircraft, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. During the Middle East war, Patriots have also been used to intercept cheap Iranian attack drones launched at US allied-Gulf countries. Eighteen countries operate the Patriot air defence system, including Ukraine, which is in desperate need of more interceptors to defend against Russia's missile attacks. The THAAD mobile system was specifically designed for ballistic missile defence. It can hit targets at ranges of 150 to 200 kilometres, focusing strictly on intercepting ballistic missiles in their final stage. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has faced extensive Iranian missile and drone attacks, said THAAD systems had played a crucial role in achieving high interception rates. The US produces about 100 THAAD interceptors per year. The SM-3 ship-launched interceptor is designed to destroy short- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles during their mid-course phase in space. It travels at hypersonic speeds and is capable of intercepting missiles outside the Earth's atmosphere. Unlike conventional systems, it does not carry an explosive warhead, instead using "sheer force" to destroy its target, according to manufacture Raytheon. The ship-launched Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) interceptor, which costs about $US4 million per unit, has also been used extensively extensively against Iranian threats such as ballistic missiles and drone swarms. Iran's cheap arms tip balance Iran does not have a modern air force, instead it has been using stockpiles of thousands of ballistic missiles and Shahed attack drones to wreak havoc on its US-allied Gulf neighbours in waves of strikes. Its one-way attack drone costs between $US20,000 and $50,000. Iran has not disclosed the price of its various ballistic missiles. Some analysts estimate Iranian short-range Fateh-110 missiles could cost only a few hundred thousand dollars each. The Shahab-3, a frequently-used medium-range ballistic missile, is estimated to range between US$1 — 3 million. Expensive US interceptors have been some of the only effective options to defend against Iranian attacks. Throughout most of the conflict, the US and its allied regional partners have said about 80 to 90 per cent of threats were being intercepted. But the US military has increasingly shifted to selective interception due to cost and inventory constraints. "Diminished stockpiles may force the United States and its coalition partners to take more risks with interceptions," the authors of a CSIS report this week wrote. "There are no good alternatives to Patriot and THAAD for ballistic missile defence." Malcolm Davis, senior analyst in defence capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), said modern warfare was using "missile systems at a voracious rate". And Western militaries could no longer get by with the mentality that "qualitative edge will always allow us to win". "If we haven't learned from the lessons of Ukraine and past wars, then it's our own silly fault," Dr Davis told the ABC. "We've gone down the wrong path by assuming, firstly, that quality gives us an automatic edge. "And secondly, quality means we don't need to have a lot of weapons." Need for low-cost solutions A number of US media outlets reported US President Donald Trump paused the latest spate of attacks earlier this week, in part, due to concerns raised by officials about the vast expenditure of sophisticated and difficult-to-manufacture weapons. Mr Trump dismissed the reports. A main issue flagged is the depleted stockpiles could create "a risk to US readiness to fight a war against China in the western Pacific", according to CSIS analysts. Mr Swanson from the Atlantic Council said tens of billions of dollars in additional funding requested by the Pentagon would be prioritised to replenish weapons stocks. "They need these funds actually to replenish what we had," he said. "You can't rule out a forever war, but the reality is they [the US] can't even sustain what they've done so far." The Pentagon is accelerating defence production with new multi-year mega contracts awarded to major US weapons companies. The US Army signed a record $US58.6 billion Patriot missile deal with Lockheed Martin this week. Earlier this year, Lockheed was also awarded a contract worth $US35 billion to quadruple production of THAAD interceptors. Manufacturing lead times for critical weapons range from about two to more than four years. Dr Davis said militaries, including Australia, needed to prioritise investing in low-cost interceptor capabilities that could be mass produced. "Our thinking is based around these exquisite, boutique, very expensive solutions that will only be able be afforded for a very small number of missiles," he said. "We can't be continuing on this trajectory if we want to win the next war. We have to fundamentally shift direction. "I'm not saying we never produce systems like Patriot or THAAD, but we have to also compliment that with large numbers of low-cost systems that we can produce rapidly."