Defense
New U.S. ICBMs Could Cost Up To $264 Billion Over Decades
- New “life-cycle cost” number is more than a 2016 estimate
- Latest Pentagon estimate doesn’t include likely warhead costs
Photographer: Ringo Chiu/AFP via Getty Images
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The Pentagon estimates the cost of its next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile program, including decades of operations and support, could be as high as $264 billion.
That total is $1.9 billion more than the “life-cycle cost” estimated by the Pentagon’s independent cost assessment unit during the program’s first major review in 2016, Defense Department spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell said in a statement. The statement didn’t explain why the estimate had grown.