The Iran war cost to the United States has passed $47 billion — more than 25 percent higher than the Defense Department's own estimate in July — according to Pentagon data obtained by Reuters. The figure, which the Pentagon has not shared publicly and on which it did not immediately respond to a request for comment, is the fullest accounting yet of what the war launched jointly with Israel in February has cost the US military. It arrives six days before the November 3 midterm elections that will decide control of Congress, in a conflict Reuters describes as unpopular, whose effect on global energy costs has weighed on Republican candidates and hurt President Donald Trump's approval ratings.
Where has the $47 billion gone?
Mostly on replacing what was fired and what was lost. The Pentagon's latest estimate was tied to the operational costs of carrying out the war, with a projected cost of more than $29 billion to replace expended munitions used in the conflict, Reuters reported. More than $6 billion more would be needed to replace military equipment and so-called "platform losses," which include the loss of aircraft including many drones lost during the war. The balance covers the running costs of the operation itself — the figures include a host of operational costs, from flight operations to cyber support. The comparison point is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's July estimate of $37.5 billion for the cost of the war: in roughly three months, the Pentagon's own accounting has risen by close to $10 billion. Trump launched the war in February predicting the conflict would last a short time.
What does the total leave out?
At least one large bill: the bases. While the estimate sweeps in operational spending and replacements, the US military's Iran war cost estimates did not clearly account for the massive expense expected to repair damage to US bases sustained by Iranian missile and drone attacks, Reuters reported. That means the $47 billion is a floor with a known gap, not a final account — the eventual total depends on repair bills that have not yet been folded in, and on whether the fighting resumes at scale. US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say the Pentagon has been planning to restart heavy fighting if ordered to do so, and Trump has held out the possibility of restarting combat operations after the midterm elections, alongside the naval blockade he has imposed on Iran to starve it of oil export revenue.
Why did the munitions bill grow so large?
Because the war's opening design spent the expensive weapons first, and then the target set recovered. Trump's initial strategy focused on first using expensive, high-end precision missiles to bomb Iran's defences so it could later use less expensive munitions, including gravity bombs like the air-launched JDAMs, which are plentiful, Reuters reported. But an April ceasefire gave time for Iran to dig out underground storage facilities, bringing back online some Iranian defences, as well as missiles and drones that had been inaccessible. A defence that has to be suppressed twice is paid for twice — in interceptors and strike weapons expended, and then in the $29 billion projected to refill the magazines. The civilian side of the ledger is visible in the same day's market reporting: Brent crude rose to $115.90 a barrel on Wednesday, and Norway's Equinor reported its strongest quarterly profit in almost four years — $12.34 billion in adjusted pre-tax earnings for July to September, roughly double a year earlier — driven, Reuters reported, by the surge in oil and gas prices as the Middle East war continued to disrupt global energy supplies. Equinor, majority state-owned and a major supplier of oil and gas to Europe with no direct exposure to the Middle East, also raised its full-year output target to around 4 percent growth, from 3 percent: "High production in the third quarter enabled us to capture additional value from higher prices," chief executive Anders Opedal said. The war's costs, in other words, are being paid on both sides of the Atlantic economy at once: by the Pentagon in munitions, and by energy consumers in prices — while producers outside the war zone collect the premium. Trump's Republican Party holds a narrow majority in both chambers of Congress, which is why a cost figure that keeps climbing carries immediate political weight six days before the vote.
This report is drawn from Reuters' October 27-28, 2026 report of the Pentagon cost data, opened and read in full on reuters.com, and Reuters' October 28, 2026 oil and Equinor reports, both opened and read in full. The cost figures are the Pentagon's own estimates as obtained and reported by Reuters; the Pentagon did not immediately comment, and the figures are published as reported, including Reuters' caveat that base-repair costs are not clearly accounted for. Market figures are snapshots checked at publish time, not live prices. This is not financial advice.
