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Sources

Every figure on this site is sourced from published news reports, government documents, and defense analysis.

https://breakingdefense.com/2026/05/price-tag-for-iran-war-ticks-up-to-29b-not-including-base-damage/

breakingdefense.com|2026-05-12

Pentagon cost accounting through May 12 (balance beyond itemized events)

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/06/politics/us-war-iran-cost

cnn.com|2026-04-30

Day 62 — ongoing operationsDay 17 — ongoing operations (Operation Epic Fury)Day 8 — ongoing operationsDay 7 — ongoing operations (~$1B/day)

https://news.usni.org/2026/04/06/new-navy-budget-wants-3b-for-new-tomahawks-4-3b-for-sm-6s

news.usni.org|2026-04-02

Tomahawk Cruise Missile (TLAM Block V)

https://abcnews.com/Politics/dozen-16m-reaper-drones-destroyed-iran-operations-us/story?id=131163787

abcnews.com|2026-03-17

Loss of MQ-9 Reaper drones in Iran operationsMQ-9 Reaper drone

https://europeanbusinessmagazine.com/business/the-iran-war-is-costing-1-43-billion-a-day-and-nobody-knows-when-it-ends/

europeanbusinessmagazine.com|2026-03-12

Day 13 — ongoing operations

https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/us-patriot-interceptors-five-days-iran

militarywatchmagazine.com|2026-03-12

Patriot PAC-3 MSE Interceptor

https://www.csis.org/analysis/depleting-missile-defense-interceptor-inventory

csis.org|2026-03-12

THAAD Interceptor

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2026/03/04/us-launches-precision-strike-missiles-in-iran-war-in-first-combat-use/

militarytimes.com|2026-03-12

PrSM / ATACMS (Army tactical missiles)

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/02/middleeast/us-weapons-iran-attack-intl-hnk-ml

cnn.com|2026-03-12

GBU-57 Massive Ordnance PenetratorAGM-158 JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile)

https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-wing/critical-shortage-or-endless-supply-munitions-availability-in-the-iran-war/166575.article

flightglobal.com|2026-03-12

SM-6 Standard Missile

https://thehill.com/homenews/5780153-operation-epic-fury-cost/

thehill.com|2026-03-05

Days 5-6 continued operations and munitions

https://www.csis.org/analysis/37-billion-estimated-cost-epic-furys-first-100-hours

csis.org|2026-03-04

Combat losses — 3 F-15 fighter jets (friendly fire over Kuwait)Days 3-4 operational costs — air, naval, ground operationsAir defense interceptors — countering Iranian retaliationJDAM Guided Bomb (GBU-31/32/38)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/03/09/iran-war-cost/

washingtonpost.com|2026-03-01

Day 2 strikes — continued munitions expenditureOpening strikes — Tomahawk and cruise missile salvos

Related tracker

https://iranwarcost.watson.brown.edu

Climate Solutions Lab, Brown University

A daily estimate of the extra gasoline and diesel costs American consumers have paid since the war began. It measures what consumers pay, not what the military spends, so it is not included in either of our totals.

Methodology

The headline total is the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate of the war’s direct cost to the Department of Defense. The itemized events listed above sum to a separate confirmed floor: the specific spending we can each trace to a source. See the methodology page for how the two differ. Spending figures are extracted from published reporting and official government disclosures, and when a range is given we use the midpoint. All amounts are in USD. If you spot an error or have a better source, please reach out.