A September report by the lead inspector general estimated Operation Epic Fury’s cost at $33.4 billion as of June 29, 2026, citing pressure on U.S. weapons inventories.
The tally included $7.4 billion in incremental obligations, $22.3 billion for munitions used and $3.7 billion for equipment losses. The munitions and equipment figures use replacement costs; infrastructure repairs were excluded.
The report cited the Office of the Under Secretary for Acquisition and Sustainment, which said spending had reduced strategic inventories and exposed limits in the industrial base’s capacity to replenish them. It pointed to slow output of solid rocket motors, tight supplies of high-grade explosives and propellants, and a shortage of skilled manufacturing workers.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that replacing munitions used through Aug. 1 would cost $21.7 billion. Its estimates included $7.3 billion for land-attack cruise missiles, $13.1 billion for missile-defense interceptors and $1.2 billion for other munitions. CBO used public information to estimate quantities after the Pentagon did not respond to its requests. The estimate covers a different period and uses a different method from the watchdog’s tally; the reports do not explain the gap between them.
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) said the Defense Department has not publicly released precise totals by weapon type. The Center for Strategic and International Studies said lower inventories could affect U.S. supplies of Patriot, THAAD and PrSM missiles to Ukraine and other allies. In an April assessment, CSIS said the campaign could continue under plausible scenarios but warned that reduced stocks posed longer-term risks in future conflicts.
In an Aug. 7 ChinaTalk interview, Hudson Institute senior fellow and former submarine officer Bryan Clark and retired Army Special Forces soldier Justin McIntosh questioned whether the campaign was consuming long-range weapons needed for a potential conflict with China. They argued that these weapons allow aircraft and ships to strike from farther away, reducing exposure to enemy defenses, but that using them at scale leaves fewer for other contingencies. Clark said, “Manned-unmanned teaming doesn’t work,” citing war-game observations about the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program.
The Air Force describes CCAs as uncrewed aircraft intended to extend the reach, awareness and survivability of crewed fighters. Its fiscal 2027 budget request included $2,578.8 million for the program: $1,431 million for research, development, test and evaluation, and $1,147.9 million for procurement. The service says the aircraft are intended to add fighter capacity at lower cost than similar numbers of fifth-generation crewed aircraft. It aims to field 500 combat-ready CCAs by 2032 as part of a planned fleet of 1,000.
The Navy awarded Raytheon, an RTX business, a $22.9 billion contract on Aug. 17 to accelerate Tomahawk production. RTX said the deal supports its goal of making more than 1,000 missiles annually. The Air Force awarded CCA aircraft contracts to General Atomics and Anduril on June 17 and established a six-vendor pool for mission-autonomy software; it plans to choose a primary provider by summer 2027.
