People are just finding out how much it costs to fire US military weapons with one shot nearly $12,000,000
Topics: Money, Politics, US News, Military, Technology
Poppy Bilderbeck
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/ Stocktrek Images
Topics: Money, Politics, US News, Military, Technology
The US Navy uses a weapon which costs a staggering $12,000,000 for one shot.
Some people are only just figuring out how expensive the weapons industry is for the military - even if you thought you were pretty aware, some of the costs are gobsmacking.
Earlier this month, the Peter G Peterson Foundation revealed during the fiscal year 2023, the Office of Management and Budget found the US spent a whopping $820 billion on national defense.
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"Procurement of weapons and systems cost $142 billion in 2023 and $122 billion was spent on research and development of weapons and equipment. The military also spent over $10 billion on the construction and management of military facilities and $1 billion on family housing," its website states.
And once you see a video posted to Reddit thread r/DamnThatsInteresting by u/ NotSamuraiJosh26_2, it's not hard to see why.
The video shows the alleged costs the US Navy incurs when firing different weapons.
In the video, a SM-3 Anti Ballistic Missile comes out as costing a reported staggering $11,800,000 per shot.
Indeed, according to The Telegraph, the 22-foot missiles with rocket boosters - known as the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptors - cost $12-million-a-shot.
They are reportedly the only weapon which the service currently has that holds the power to potentially bring down a ballistic weapon while it's still in the air, midway to its target.
But what about all the other weapons in the video?
Well, the clip also shows footage of a MK 50 Cal, claiming one fire costs $11.25 and by the end of a series of rounds, it says the total has come to $74.86.
According to a Quora answer by Carl from The Gun Club, the rounds cost 'about $8 to $10 depending on where you buy them' and given the answer was posted last year, this could well have gone up.
A five-inch Caliber Mark 45 is alleged by the video to cost $1,566.10 to fire before going up to $3,132.20 on the second fire.
Ultimately, the cost to fire the weapon depends on what sort of ammunition is used, but in 2018, USS Dewey (DDG-105) fired 20 hyper velocity projectiles (HVP) from a standard Mk 45 5-inch deck gun which cost the US $75,000-$100,000, USNI News reports.
A MK 38 25mm Machine Gun is reported as costing $69.46 per shot, going up to $625.14 when shot multiple times in a matter of seconds.
"The Mk 38 Mod 3 also provides a range of 2.5 kilometers and selectable rates of fire from single to 180 rounds per minute, and fires all U.S. Navy-approved 25mm ammunition," as per Army Recognition.
And according to Ordnance.com, 25mm MK38 Machine Gun System Ammunition (25x137mm) costs from $50 to $250.
A CIWS 20mm - which does '75 rounds a second' - is reported by the video as costing $6,741.00 in one fire, going up to $13,482.94 once the second is released.
Known as the Phalanx CIWS - and used to defend Navy watercraft against small boats, missiles and aircraft - the War Zone reports a 'two-second burst' of the weapon costs 'the Navy nearly $7,000'.
The RIM 116 Surface to Air Missile allegedly costs a whopping $905,330.00 for one shot.
Known as the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) elsewhere online, the weapon is reported by Defence Geek as costing around '$982,000,000' per missile.
The price of each fluctuates dependent on the type of ammunition used.
UNILAD has contacted the US Navy for comment on the video.