Home Middle East Iran U.S. campaign against Iran has cost over $10bn

U.S. campaign against Iran has cost over $10bn

DOVER, DELAWARE, UNITED STATES - MARCH 07: A U.S. Army carry team moves the flagged-draped coffins containing the remains of the US soldiers killed in the retaliatory Iranian strike on Kuwait's Port of Shuaiba, in Dover, Delaware, United States on March 07, 2026. U.S. (Kyle Mazza - Anadolu Agency)

The U.S. military campaign targeting Iran has generated massive costs in just ten days, with estimates showing the operation has already exceeded $10.35 billion in spending and losses.

Analysts estimate that the United States spent roughly $779 million during the first twenty four hours of the campaign.

As operations expanded, costs rapidly climbed as aircraft sorties, maintenance requirements, and large scale weapons use increased across multiple theaters in the region.

Data drawn from defense budget requests and military activity estimates show that the first one hundred hours of operations alone reached about $3.3 billion.

When extended across a ten day period, operational spending approached roughly $8 billion, highlighting how quickly modern military campaigns accumulate enormous financial demands.

Rising costs

The scale of the financial burden becomes clearer when comparing it to the overall US defence budget.

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The estimated $10.35 billion spent or lost during the first ten days represents roughly 1.23 percent of the entire 2026 budget. For such a short period, that share underscores the intensity of the campaign.

Pentagon officials told Congress that about $6 billion had already been spent during the first week of operations. Around $4 billion of that total was used on munitions and advanced missile interceptors as forces attempted to counter Iranian attacks and sustain the offensive effort.

Those figures suggest an operational average of roughly $857 million per day during the first week. When combined with additional activity in the following days, overall operational spending climbed to an estimated $8.57 billion in just ten days.

ANKARA, TURKIYE – MARCH 9: An infographic titled “US–Israeli attacks and Iran’s retaliations” created in Ankara, Turkiye on March 9, 2026. ( Kadri Suat Çelik – Anadolu Agency )

Asset losses

Beyond the cost of carrying out the operation, the United States also experienced significant equipment losses as Iranian strikes targeted American military infrastructure across the region.

Estimates place the value of damaged or destroyed US military assets at about $2.55 billion.

The most expensive single loss appears to be a U.S. AN/FPS-132 early warning radar system at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. The radar, valued at around $1.1 billion, was struck by an Iranian missile when retaliatory attacks began on Feb. 28.

Additional losses included satellite communications terminals destroyed during strikes on the US Navy Fifth Fleet headquarters in Manama, Bahrain, along with several buildings at the facility.

Other damage reported across the region included destroyed radomes in Kuwait, downed MQ 9 Reaper drones, and multiple radar components linked to the THAAD missile defense system.

Taken together, operational spending of about $7.8 billion combined with roughly $2.55 billion in equipment losses brings the estimated ten day cost of the campaign to approximately $10.35 billion, or about $1.03 billion per day.

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