The Pentagon unveiled its $1.5 trillion defense budget request for fiscal 2027 on Tuesday, by far the largest budget in the country’s history, but it was formulated before the U.S. war in Iran.
It is unknown how much the war in Iran has cost taxpayers, but U.S. forces dropped thousands of munitions, lost multiple aircraft and drones, and had multiple American bases in the region damaged in Iranian drone and missile attacks.
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“It’s not reflected in the [2027] request,” Pentagon Comptroller Jay Hurst III said Tuesday about the $1.5 trillion budget.
“Part of it is we would assess what our posture should be in the Middle East, right? We have to make sure we understand what we want to construct in the future,” Hurst said. “We might change how we build bases in the Middle East based on this conflict. It’ll be part of a future request.”
He also said allies “might contribute a share for that construction,” which could play a role in the cost.
The War Department’s budget includes a request of $1.15 trillion in the base budget with an expected $350 billion from reconciliation, which is a congressional tactic that allows measures to pass with a simple majority in the Senate. In total, it represents a proposed 42% increase in defense spending year over year.
On top of that, the department intends to request additional funding through a supplemental spending package to address the costs of the war, though it is unclear what that total could be. Initial reporting indicated the request could be an additional $200 billion, though new information suggests the request will be between $80 billion and $100 billion.
Last week, Russell Vought, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, declined to specify an estimate for the cost of the war when pressed by lawmakers during a hearing. Vought said the White House is working on a request for supplemental defense funding to cover the costs, but he also said he “wouldn’t [want] to make a characterization of that at this point,” when asked if the conflict had already cost $50 billion.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked last month about the possible $200 billion supplemental request, and he said, “It takes money to kill bad guys,” adding, “So, we’re going back to Congress and our folks there to ensure that we’re properly funded for what’s been done for what we may have to do in the future.”
Over the course of the war, Iranian forces shot down an F-15 fighter jet, an A-10 Warthog, and several MQ-9 Reaper drones, while Kuwaiti air defenses accidentally shot down three American F-15E Strike Eagles aircraft, in addition to all of the munitions expended.
The Navy expended 850 Tomahawk missiles during the Iran war, the Washington Post reported about 10 days before the ceasefire commenced, making the total number likely much higher. It was able to procure 58 of these missiles last year with $257 million, while this year’s request represents a 1,200% increase.
The American Enterprise Institute recently estimated that the conflict likely cost between $25 billion and $35 billion. One of the authors of the estimate, Elaine McCusker, served as deputy and then acting undersecretary of defense comptroller from 2017 through 2020.
The military’s budget request does include funding to increase stockpiles of critical munitions, which are even lower now following the war in Iran. The department announced deals with defense contractors in recent weeks to increase production.
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There is slightly more than $31 billion in the request for expanding the production and capacity to build critical land power missile stockpiles such as the Patriot system, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, Precision strike missiles, and more.
It also calls for raises of between 5% and 7% for troops, an increase to the total number of troops in the overall force by 44,000, while the Army’s, Navy’s, and Air Force’s budgets will increase by 23.9%, 24.3%, and 33.6%, respectively.
