U.S. and Allies Face Massive Costs Defending Against Iranian Missile and Drone Barrages

The United States and its partners in the Middle East have incurred enormous expenses defending against waves of Iranian drones and missiles since the start of Operation Epic Fury in late February 2026. Expert analyses place the cost of air defense interceptors alone in the range of $1.2 billion to $3.7 billion for the conflict’s intense early phase, with a midpoint estimate around $1.7 billion during the first 100 hours.

A detailed report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) highlights this figure as part of broader munitions expenditures, driven by Iran’s launches of over 2,000 Shahed-style one-way drones and hundreds of ballistic missiles targeting U.S. bases across Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, and other locations. Defenses, including Patriot PAC-3 systems, costing roughly $3-4 million per interceptor, SM-2 and SM-6 missiles, around $2 million each, and THAAD interceptors, exceeding $12 million apiece, have achieved high success rates in neutralizing threats but at a steep financial price.

The asymmetry is stark: Iran’s low-cost drones, priced between $20,000 and $50,000 each, force defenders to expend multimillion-dollar munitions, often at ratios of 50-to-1 or higher in Iran’s favor. This dynamic has strained stockpiles, with reports indicating rapid depletion of key interceptors despite allied contributions from Gulf states operating their own Patriot and THAAD batteries.

Broader war costs underscore the interception burden. CSIS estimates total U.S. expenditures for the first 100 hours at approximately $3.7 billion, nearly $900 million per day, covering offensive strikes, operations, and replenishment needs. Most of these funds fall outside existing budgets, prompting expectations of a large supplemental request from the Pentagon. Earlier defensive efforts against similar threats, such as in the Red Sea, already consumed over $1 billion in Navy munitions.

As Iranian retaliatory launches have tapered in recent days amid U.S. and Israeli strikes degrading launch capabilities, interception spending may moderate. However, ongoing operations and the risk of renewed barrages continue to challenge inventories that take years to rebuild. The financial pressure highlights a core vulnerability in asymmetric warfare, where cheap, massed attacks impose outsized defensive costs on technologically superior forces.