Air Force Nuclear Cruise Missiles Seen Costing About $29 Billion
- Estimate is about $2 billion more than Air Force figures
- Service expects to purchase 1,020 of the air-launched missiles
Unarmed AGM-86B Air-Launched Cruise Missile
Source: United States Air Force
This article is for subscribers only.
The U.S. Air Force’s new nuclear cruise missile will cost at least $29 billion to develop, procure, operate and sustain, a Pentagon evaluation found.
That’s $2 billion more than the service’s estimate, with the major difference stemming from the development and procurement phases for as many as 1,020 of the air-launched missiles, known as the Long-Range Standoff Weapon. The Pentagon’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office estimated $16.2 billion for those parts of the program, compared with $14.2 billion projected by the Air Force, according to figures obtained by Bloomberg News.