According to Reuters and other outlets on Monday, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Pentagon (Department of War) spent an additional roughly $38 billion (about 52 trillion won) between the start of the war with Iran on Feb. 28 of this year and the first of last month. Of that, $21.7 billion went to replenishing depleted munitions, accounting for 57% of total spending. Costs from increased aircraft flight hours followed at $10.4 billion.
The CBO projected that if the intensity of fighting remains at the low levels seen in May and June, about $2 billion a month would be added, but if it escalates to July levels, monthly costs would rise to $3 billion or more.
The war is also expected to weigh significantly on U.S. military readiness. Analysts note that as stockpiles of critical weapons such as interceptor missiles plunge, the U.S. military's ability to respond to contingencies — including a conflict over China and Taiwan — is at risk of weakening. The Pentagon does not disclose its interceptor missile inventories, but based on spending records and procurement history, the U.S. is estimated to have burned through between half and as much as two-thirds of its interceptor stockpile since June 2025.
The CBO estimated that restoring depleted weapons inventories to previous levels alone could take at least five years. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that U.S. forces expended 60 to 70 Patriot interceptors and more than 12 THAAD interceptors to stop about 20 Iranian ballistic missiles.
The snowballing cost of the war is also likely to ripple through the U.S. economy. The CBO projected that personal consumption expenditures (PCE) inflation in the first quarter of next year will run 0.5 percentage point higher than its February forecast. Core PCE inflation, excluding food and energy, is also expected to come in 0.3 percentage point above the earlier projection.
Meanwhile, internal military disclosures suggest damage is greater than publicly known as the U.S. has failed to seize the initiative in the war. Photographs released by CBS on Monday, provided by active-duty personnel deployed in the Iran war, showed a U.S. Boeing E-3 Sentry airborne early warning aircraft at Saudi Arabia's Prince Sultan Air Base with its tail section blown off by a direct hit. Another photo, taken at Camp Buehring in Kuwait immediately after an airstrike, showed barracks stripped to their frames. A military vehicle burned in an Iranian attack was crumpled beyond recognition. One active-duty service member told CBS, "The American people have not been told about this damage," adding, "We're basically getting punched in the face with our eyes closed. We're just watching bases get destroyed."
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels are widening the scope of their attacks on Saudi Arabia. The Saudi military said on Tuesday that it shot down a Houthi drone launched toward Mecca, Islam's holiest site, on Monday. The Houthis, for their part, claimed they downed a Saudi F-15 fighter jet over Yemen.
Separately, according to China's Foreign Ministry, Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Beijing on Monday. Wang said the continuation of the U.S.-Iran war "does not serve the common interests of the parties involved or the international community," while Araghchi said the ceasefire memorandum of understanding reached with the U.S. "remains valid, and the United States must fulfill its commitments."
