An epic fury costing $25 billion.
The cost of the war in Iran has so far reached about $25 billion, most of which is related to ammunition. This was provided by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and General Dan Caine, Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee. Hegseth avoided answering the question about how much more the United States intends to spend on the campaign.
“To date, we are spending about $25 billion on Operation Epic Fury, most of which is on ammunition,” said acting comptroller Jules Hurst III, specifying that part of the costs also includes operations, maintenance, and equipment replacement.
As Defense News points out, this was the first time the Trump administration made public the financial cost of the war.
The hearing took place as the Trump administration prepared to defend before Congress its $1.5 trillion spending plan for the Pentagon for fiscal year 2027, reports Breaking Defense. The amount includes $1.15 trillion in the base budget request and another $350 billion from a reconciliation bill currently under approval.
All the details.
THE COST SO FAR OF THE WAR IN IRAN FOR AMERICAN POCKETS
During the first public hearing of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine since the start of the conflict with Iran, Pentagon officials indicated a cost of about $25 billion for two months of military operations against Tehran.
Acting Undersecretary for Finance Jules Hurst III, interim head of the Pentagon budget, also clarified that the Department will submit a supplemental appropriation request to Congress as soon as a “comprehensive assessment” of the costs is completed.
THE MAJORITY FOR AMMUNITION
“The majority of this figure is allocated to ammunition,” Hurst explained before the Committee members.
“A portion obviously also concerns management and maintenance expenses and equipment replacement,” he added, anticipating that “a supplemental bill will be drafted through the White House, which will be submitted to Congress once the overall cost assessment of the conflict is completed.”
THE REACTIONS
Breaking Defense reports that both members of Congress and outside analysts received the figure with skepticism, considering that Hurst had stated that the first week alone cost about $11.3 billion.
When questioned about this apparent discrepancy, Hurst responded that “the most intense phase of the conflict is obviously the beginning: it is during that period that we used most of the ammunition.”
THE POSITION OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
Subsequently, Secretary of Defense Hegseth confirmed the figure, stating that it is a justified cost to stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions. During the hearing, he also attacked the opposition: “The biggest challenge, the greatest adversary we face right now are the reckless, cowardly, and defeatist words of the Democrats in Congress and some Republicans.”
THE HUMAN COST OF OPERATION EPIC FURY
Finally, according to Pentagon data, thirteen American soldiers have been killed in Operation Epic Fury and another 400 have been wounded.
