Iran War Has Cost the Pentagon $40 Billion, New CSIS Analysis Finds

The U.S.-Iran war — launched on February 28, 2026, under the codename "Operation Epic Fury" — has cost the Pentagon roughly $40 billion, according to a new analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a well-respected national security think tank in Washington. That number is preliminary, but it's the most detailed independent accounting of the conflict's price tag so far.

Here's what went into that figure: the $40 billion covers munitions fired, equipment destroyed, and damage to U.S. bases — but it does NOT include routine operating costs already baked into the Pentagon's regular budget. In other words, this is the war's extra bill on top of everything else. Munitions were by far the biggest line item. CSIS senior adviser Mark Cancian told CNN there was a "high use" of long-range, sophisticated — and very expensive — weapons. Munitions alone came to roughly $26 billion of the total.

The spending was front-loaded and fast. The first 100 hours of the conflict cost $3.7 billion. By day 12, the cumulative tab had hit $16.5 billion. The daily burn rate slowed after that as the fighting became less intense and cheaper weapons came into play — but by then, significant damage had already been done to U.S. weapons stockpiles.

The Pentagon is now asking Congress for $80 billion in supplemental funding — basically emergency spending on top of its already record $1 trillion-plus annual budget. Less than $20 billion of that request covers immediate war needs; the rest is for rebuilding stockpiles and other longer-term costs.

Other agencies got hit too. Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, and others racked up an additional $1 billion in war-related costs, including about $165 million tied directly to higher fuel prices.

Speaking of fuel: if you drive a car, you felt this one. Gas prices climbed from under $3 a gallon to well over $4 for much of the conflict. The war rattled the bond market too — rising inflation fears pushed the 10-year Treasury yield (which sets the floor for what you pay on mortgages, car loans, and credit cards) to its highest point in over a year before pulling back slightly.

Stock markets, oddly enough, kept climbing — buoyed by a run of big IPOs and investor optimism — but everyday Americans remain pessimistic. Public approval of Trump's handling of both the economy and the Iran conflict sits in the low-to-mid 30s, according to a recent Fox News poll.

The bottom line: this was a short, intense war that moved fast and burned through money — and weapons — at a staggering rate. The bill is still being tallied, and the debate over who pays for it is just beginning.