Live Cost Tracker

Iran War Cost Tracker

Operation Epic Fury began March 1, 2026. This tracker estimates the running cost to US taxpayers based on Pentagon data and independent analyses.

Estimated Direct Operations Cost

$0.00

and counting...

Estimate updated every 60 seconds — precision is an approximation

Days

Hours

Minutes

$0.00

per second

$0.00

per minute

per hour

Phase 1 peak: $1.88B/day · Active ops: $450M/day · Ceasefire standby: $55M/day

$29B

DoD Total (May 12)

$11.30B

First 6 Days (CSIS)

$55M

Current Daily Rate

$200B

Requested (Unapproved)

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Economic Analysis

What the War Costs Your Household

Beyond the $30B Pentagon number — gas prices, groceries, inflation, and the long-term fiscal hit to every American family.

War Status

Fragile Ceasefire

Fragile ceasefire in effect since April 8. Trump described it as 'on massive life support' on May 11. Postponed scheduled strike on May 18 after requests from Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

38 active days · 13,000 sorties

US Casualties

Killed

538

Wounded

Aircraft lost

CRS Report IN12692, May 13, 2026

Strait of Hormuz

Dual Blockade

Dual blockade: Iran closed Strait; US imposed naval blockade on Iranian ports April 13. Not fully reopened.

20% of global oil trade disrupted · Oil at $110+/barrel

First 100 Hours: Where the Money Went

CSIS analysis of $3,700,000,000 spent in the opening phase of Operation Epic Fury (March 1-5, 2026).

Itemized Cost Breakdown

Drill into each spending category to see individual munitions, equipment, and operational costs.

Offensive Strike Munitions

$1.50B

Tomahawk cruise missiles, JDAM kits, ATACMS, Precision Strike Missiles, and attack drones

Tomahawk Cruise Missile

Opening phase strikes

$3,600,000

× 160

JDAM Kit

Transitioned to cheaper precision munitions

$80,000

× 1,500+

ATACMS Missile

Long-range ground targets

$1,700,000

× Unknown

One-Way Attack Drone

Switchblade-type loitering munitions

$100,000

× Unknown

Air Defense Interceptors

$1.60B

SM-2, SM-3, Patriot PAC-3, and THAAD interceptors defending against Iranian missiles and drones

SM-3 Interceptor

Ballistic missile defense

$28,000,000

× Classified

SM-2 Interceptor

Cruise missile & drone defense

$2,100,000

× Classified

Patriot PAC-3 MSE

Point defense against ballistic missiles

$4,100,000

× Classified

THAAD Interceptor

High-altitude ballistic missile defense

$41,000,000

× Limited

Air Operations

$125.20M

~200 fighter aircraft including F-15EX, F-35, F-16, F/A-18, and B-2 bombers. 13,000 sorties flown in 40-day active phase.

F-35A sortie

Per flight hour

$42,000

F-15EX sortie

Per flight hour

$29,000

B-2 Spirit sortie

Per flight hour

$169,000

KC-135 tanker sortie

Per flight hour

$9,200

Naval Operations

$64.50M

2 carrier strike groups, 14 destroyers, cruisers, and support vessels

Aircraft carrier daily ops

Including air wing

$6,500,000

Destroyer daily ops

Per day

$85,000

Cruiser daily ops

Per day (Ticonderoga)

$120,000

Submarine daily ops

Per day

$180,000

Ground Operations

$7M

Artillery, air defense units, and forward-deployed personnel

Detailed breakdown not available. Daily rate: $1,600,000

Equipment Losses & Damage

$350M

42 aircraft lost or damaged during 40-day active phase (CRS report, May 13, 2026)

MQ-9 Reaper (lost)

Largest single category of losses

$32,000,000

× 24

KC-135 Stratotanker (lost)

Critical force multiplier losses

$62,000,000

× 7

F-15E Strike Eagle (lost)

Supersedes original F-15EX report

$108,000,000

× 4

Other aircraft (lost/damaged)

F-35A damaged, E-3 AWACS, MQ-4C, A-10, MC-130Js + helicopters

$45,000,000

× 7

Deployed Military Assets

The largest US military buildup in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq War.

Aircraft Carriers

Nimitz-class

USS Eisenhower & USS Lincoln

Daily Cost

$6,500,000

Fighter Aircraft

200

Mixed (F-35, F-15, F-16, F/A-18)

13,000 sorties flown in active phase

Daily Cost

$23,314,000

Destroyers

Arleigh Burke-class

Aegis missile defense

Daily Cost

$1,190,000

Submarines

Virginia & Ohio-class

Including cruise missile subs

Daily Cost

$720,000

Ground Troops

50,000

Deployed personnel (peak)

Air defense, logistics, special operations; 15 KIA, 538 wounded

Daily Cost

$5,500,000

Iranian Response: Why Air Defense Costs So Much

Iran launched a massive retaliatory strike, driving up US air defense expenditures to an estimated $1.6 billion in the first 100 hours alone.

500

Ballistic Missiles

2,000

Drones

500

Missiles Intercepted

1,300

Drones Intercepted

Coalition intercepts by Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE

What Could This Money Fund Instead?

Real-time comparisons showing how the war cost could be spent on domestic programs.

👩‍🏫

Teacher Salaries

$68,000 each

Average annual public school teacher salary

🏥

Years of Medicaid

$9,000 each

Annual Medicaid spending per beneficiary

🎓

Pell Grants

$7,395 each

Maximum annual Pell Grant award

❤️

Family Healthcare Plans

$24,000 each

Annual family health insurance coverage

🍎

Years of School Lunches

$1,000 each

180 school days of meals per student

👶

Head Start Slots

$12,000 each

Annual cost per child in Head Start

These comparisons update in real-time based on the estimated war cost of $0.00

Cost Projections: Where This Is Heading

Economic models estimate the full cost if operations continue.

Two-Month Direct Costs

Penn Wharton Budget Model estimate

$40Bto$95B

Direct military operations and equipment replacement costs

Total Economic Impact

Including indirect costs and market effects

$210B

Oil price shock ($110+/barrel), Strait of Hormuz dual blockade, supply chain disruption, market volatility

What the Pentagon Number Doesn't Include

The $29B DoD figure covers direct military operations only. The war's economic reach extends into every American household through higher gas prices, food costs, and broader inflation.

At the Pump

+$0.77/gal

vs. pre-war average (26.5% increase)

Before war (Feb 24)$2.91/gal

Peak (Hormuz closure)$4.50/gal

Now (May 2026)$3.68/gal

Extra monthly cost / household+$73/mo

Cumulative per household+$291

Source: EIA Weekly Retail Gasoline Prices; AAA GasBuddy

In Your Grocery Cart

+3.8% CPI

Year-over-year inflation (April 2026) — 3-year high

Gas prices YoY+28.4%

Food prices YoY+3.2%

Hormuz closure added to CPI+0.6pp

Extra monthly food + goods+$112/mo

The Dallas Fed estimates Strait of Hormuz disruption alone adds +0.6 percentage points to US headline inflation through shipping cost pass-through.

Source: BLS Consumer Price Index, April 2026; Dallas Fed Economic Letter, April 2026

Total Economic Toll

Penn Wharton estimate

$210B+

total economic impact (direct + indirect)

Oil: pre-war → now$65 → $110/bbl

Peak oil price$128/bbl

US GDP growth (IMF revised)2.3% ↓

Extra US fuel spending$45B national

Harvard Kennedy School projects total war cost at $500B–$1 trillion including long-term veterans care, munitions replacement, and economic drag.

IMF: "Largest supply disruption in history of global oil market"

Source: Penn Wharton Budget Model; Harvard Kennedy School / CNBC; Brown University Costs of War

Full economic impact analysis — household costs, inflation breakdown, long-term projections →

Methodology & Data Sources

Three-Phase Cost Model

Phase 1 — Initial strikes (Days 0–6): $1.88B/day. Source: CSIS published a Day 6 cumulative total of $11,300,000,000. This is our hardest anchor — a named institution, specific date, specific dollar figure.
Phase 2 — Sustained operations (Days 6–38): ~$450M/day. Back-calculated: DoD disclosed $29,000,000,000 total at Day 72. Subtracting Phase 1 and Phase 3 costs yields ~$450M/day for the active campaign. CSIS Day 12 figure ($16.5B) partially validates this.
Phase 3 — Ceasefire standby (April 8+): our estimate $55M/day. Built bottom-up from known deployed assets. See breakdown below. We do not use a flat "war rate" here — the ceasefire ended active strike operations.

How We Estimate $55M/Day During Ceasefire

We build this from the bottom up using known deployed assets, not a single reported figure:

Naval assets

2 carrier strike groups ($13M) + 14 destroyers ($1.19M) + 4 submarines ($720K) + blockade enforcement sorties ($3M)

$17.90M/day

50,000 troops sustainment

~$400/person/day all-in deployed cost: housing, food, medical, hazard pay, transportation

$20M/day

Air operations (ISR only)

~50 intelligence/surveillance sorties/day at $25K avg + tanker support. No active strikes.

$1.80M/day

Logistics & fuel

Fuel for all naval and air assets, supply chain maintenance, ammunition upkeep

$10M/day

Intelligence & special operations

SIGINT, reconnaissance, CIA operations, special ops presence

$5M/day

Total estimated

$55M/day

Bottom-up estimate of ongoing operational tempo. Does not include procurement, munitions replacement, or supplemental appropriations. DoD's full war accounting implies ~$97M/day for this period — the gap is likely non-operational spending we cannot estimate.

Important Caveats

Pentagon CFO declined to give full cost estimates to the Senate on May 13, saying a complete diagnosis is still underway
This ticker shows direct operational costs only — not procurement, munitions replacement, or long-term veterans care
Long-term costs: 42 aircraft lost at $2.60B, 15 KIA, 538 wounded — care and replacement costs not included
The DoD's $29B figure at Day 72 implies ~$97M/day for Phase 3; our $55M/day estimate is conservative and reflects operational tempo only
This tracker provides an estimate, not an official government figure

Data Sources

CSIS: $3.7 Billion: Estimated Cost of Epic Fury's First 100 Hours CSIS (Day 6 Update): Iran War Cost Estimate Update: $11.3 Billion at Day 6, $16.5B at Day 12 Pentagon (DoD): US war in Iran has cost $29B so far (May 12, 2026)Congressional Research Service: 42 Aircraft Lost in 40 Days (CRS Report IN12692)Penn Wharton: Iran War Budget Impact: Up to $47B through April Quincy Institute: Iran War Costs: What We Know and Where We Might Be Headed National Priorities Project: FACT SHEET: How much is the war in Iran costing taxpayers?Wikipedia: 2026 Iran War