President Donald Trump launched the joint US-Israel war against Iran in February with a strategy that first relied on expensive precision missiles against Iranian defences, before shifting to less expensive weapons including air-launched JDAMs. The campaign’s military bill has now reached $47 billion as of mid-October.
The figure is more than $3 billion higher than last month and more than 25 percent above the Defense Department’s July estimate of $37.5 billion. In an account of the new Pentagon estimate obtained by Reuters, the total was put at $47.1 billion, a $3 billion rise in a single month.
The largest expense is $29 billion for replacing munitions used in the war, according to a US Central Command estimate. The Pentagon’s inspector general said last month that the scale of munitions expended had left the US facing ‘strategic inventory shortfalls’.
A further $6.1 billion has been allocated to replace lost equipment, including aircraft and drones. Nearly $12 billion is obligated for the added costs of military action and support for American service members. Air Force support for deployed personnel, airlift, bases, communications and transport in theatre costs $7.6 billion.
These figures leave out the cost of damage to US military bases in the Middle East, many of which were targeted by Iranian drones and missiles. The Pentagon had not publicly shared the estimate and did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers in July that the war had cost around $37.5 billion, excluding damaged US bases. Democrats in Congress later pressed him for a fuller accounting of the costs.
The conflict’s price reflects choices and events that followed its opening phase. An April ceasefire gave Iran time to dig out underground storage facilities and return some of its defences, missiles and drones to operation. Trump later imposed a naval blockade intended to deprive Iran of oil export revenue.
The war has also become less popular since February. Its effect on global energy costs has weighed on support for Republican candidates and hurt Trump’s approval ratings. Moody’s Analytics estimates that the conflict has cost the average American household $2,000 so far.
The Congressional Budget Office said last month that the war could cost $2 billion to $3 billion a month for as long as it continues. Earlier this year, the administration asked Congress for tens of billions of dollars in supplemental military funding, partly because of the Iran war, though that request has yet to pass.
Trump has held out the prospect of renewed combat after the election. At a rally, he said: ‘We may do another little Epic Fury, or they'll agree.’
The cost disclosure comes before the November 3 election that will determine control of Congress for the next two years.
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