The Current Cost of Weapons
by James Dunnigan
August 1, 2004

Discussion Board on this DLS topic

Current U.S. military purchases include a lot of very expensive stuff. For example;

$10.4 million each for 39 UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.

$19.7 million each for 15 MH-60S helicopters. These are Blackhawks upgraded for commando operations.

$70 million each for 42 F/A-18 E/F Fighter aircraft. This was the last of the American “Fourth Generation” warplanes.

$150 million each for 24 F-22 Raptor aircraft. This was the first of the American (or anyone else’s) “Fifth Generation” warplanes.

$106 million each for 8 Navy V-22 aircraft and $102 million each for 3 Air Force V-22 aircraft. A controversial, and difficult to maintain, replacement for transport helicopters.

$178 million each for 15 C-17 tactical airlift aircraft. The standard heavy air transport.

$70 million each for 11 C-130J airlift aircraft. The latest version of a fifty year old design. Standard “tactical” air transport.

$68 million each for 3 Global Hawk High Altitude UAVs. The largest and most expensive American UAV.

$14 million each for 13 Predator Medium Altitude UAVs. The latest version of the most successful American UAV. These things aren’t so cheap, at least not the larger ones.

$4.54 million each for 108 Patriot missiles. This is the anti-missile version, which explains its high cost.

$871,000 each for 293 Tactical Tomahawk missiles. The last version of the Tomahawk, to be replaced by a cheaper model.

$1,581,143,000 for one Virginia Class nuclear attack submarine.

$1.1 billion each for 3 DDG-51 Guided Missile Destroyers.

$966,559,000 for one LPD-17 Class amphibious ship.

$174 million each 3 Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (for putting satellites into space.)

The Current Cost of Weapons by James DunniganAugust 1, 2004

The Current Cost of Weapons
by James Dunnigan
August 1, 2004