The Iran war has already cost the Pentagon $25 billion, a top Defense Department official said Wednesday, providing the first official price tag for a US military campaign with little public support that has lasted two months.
Acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst gave the figure during a House Armed Services Committee hearing with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Kaine on the department’s budget. It is the most specific number linked to an effort by the Trump administration that has no clear end despite a recent ceasefire.
“Almost to this day, we are spending approximately $25 billion on Operation Epic Fury, most of which is in munitions,” Hurst said. “Part of that is, obviously (operations and maintenance) and equipment replacement.”
But given the difficult pace of air and sea operations and the costly cost of restoring air defenses, this figure lags far behind many outside estimates. It is also dwarfed by reports that the administration may seek hundreds of billions of dollars to cover the Middle East campaign.
Hurst told attendees of a defense summit in Washington in March that the Iran war had cost the country about $11 billion in the first week. The $25 billion price tag comes as administration officials are discussing a supplemental request of up to $200 million for conflict and weapons replenishment. However, officials have publicly stressed that they have not yet settled on a price tag for the supplemental request.
The Pentagon is expected to submit a supplemental funding request soon. Hurst told lawmakers the administration would make it “once it has fully assessed the costs of the conflict.”
ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.), asked about the cost of the war, seemed surprised by the specifics of the Pentagon budget chief.
Smith told Hearst, “I’m glad you answered that question, because we’ve been asking for it for a long time and nobody gave us the number.” “So if you could give us those details, that would be great.”
The hearing, ostensibly about the administration’s 2027 budget request, quickly turned to Iran and whether the military conflict has achieved any real strategic victories for the US.
“As we sit here today, Iran’s nuclear program is exactly the same as it was before this war started,” Smith said. “They have not lost their ability to inflict pain. They still have a ballistic missile program. They are still capable of blocking the Strait of Hormuz.”
But Hegseth preemptively attacked skeptics of the war.
“The biggest challenge we face at this point, our biggest opponent, is the reckless, negligent and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans,” he said.
