Experts estimate the cost of U.S. involvement in Iran-related conflicts: $500 million spent daily.

In late February, the United States launched a military strike against Iran, and estimated war costs have already reached several tens of billions of dollars. A think-tank expert estimates that, in the U.S.-Iran conflict, the U.S. is “burning through cash” at a daily rate of $500 million.

According to Elaine McCaskeske, a senior researcher at the American Enterprise Institute and a former senior budget official at the U.S. Department of Defense, the amount spent within five weeks has been between $22.3 billion and $31.0 billion since the U.S. launched a military action against Iran on February 28. This includes the cost for U.S. forces, starting in December 2025, to deploy additional assets to the Middle East, but it does not include a comprehensive assessment of combat losses that can only be confirmed after the fighting ends.

McCaskeske estimates that the war costs include combat losses and equipment replacement of between $2.1 billion and $3.6 billion. The higher valuation includes repairing the Ford-class aircraft carrier that was evacuated from the Middle East theater due to a fire in the laundry room, as well as repairing the early warning radar system AN/FPS-132 deployed in Qatar, which was hit by drones.

Meanwhile, according to Mark Cancsien, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer, the U.S. action against Iran consumes $500 million per day on average. Just 6 days after the war began, U.S. combat losses and infrastructure losses had already reached at least $1.4 billion. Cancsien also noted that because the U.S. strictly restricts details from being released to the public, the actual war costs may be higher.

According to a report from the UK on the 7th, during the war Iran prioritized striking U.S. radar and communications systems at Middle East bases, as well as aerial refueling aircraft. Striking radar infrastructure would make it harder for the U.S. to identify and intercept Iranian missiles; striking aerial refueling aircraft makes it difficult for U.S. fighter jets to get refueled, increasing the difficulty of long-range airstrikes.

Known U.S. losses so far also include: one E-3 “Sentry” early warning aircraft deployed in Saudi Arabia; part of an AN/TPY-2 radar deployed in Jordan as a core component of the “THAAD” air defense system; an F-15E “Strike Eagle” attack aircraft shot down by Iran; and, due to the rescue operation, one A-10 “Warthog” attack aircraft that took off with the pilots, as well as two C-130 “Hercules” transport aircraft that are said to have been destroyed by the U.S. itself. Iran also claims that it has shot down more than 10 MQ-9 “Reaper” drones during the conflict.

In addition, at the start of the conflict, three F-15E aircraft of the U.S. were shot down by “friendly fire” in Kuwait, and the U.S. also lost a KC-135 “Stratotanker” refueling aircraft in Iraq.

Analysts say that the E-3 “Sentry” early warning aircraft and the two radar systems deployed in Jordan and Qatar are the most important assets destroyed in this conflict. Replacing one E-3 could cost more than $700 million. Replacing one AN/TPY-2 radar and one AN/FPS-132 radar would cost approximately $485 million and $1.1 billion, respectively. The costs of the KC-135 tanker aircraft and the F-15E fighters are $160 million and $100 million, respectively.

It has been disclosed that producing one AN/TPY-2 radar takes nearly three years, and the U.S. currently has no additional inventory. This means that if the U.S. urgently needs them in the Middle East, it can only temporarily move them from other regions.

McCaskeske said that if the Iran conflict continues, the “bottleneck” of shortages of key materials and spare parts faced by the U.S. may further worsen.

A former senior U.S. official pointed out that most of the losses of U.S. assets fall under “self-inflicted” improper use of resources. “Either we didn’t have proper self-defense, or we made mistakes when deploying these systems.”

On March 19, Trump confirmed that the Department of Defense has applied to Congress for an additional budget of about $200 billion to support combat operations against Iran. The request has been questioned by some members of Congress.

On the evening of April 7 in U.S. and Iranian Eastern Time, the U.S. and Iran announced a ceasefire and the start of two-week negotiations.

（Source: CCTV News）