Pentagon says first 6 days of U.S. strikes on Iran cost 11.3 bln USD

WASHINGTON, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Pentagon officials have told U.S. lawmakers that the first six days of the U.S. military campaign against Iran cost more than 11.3 billion U.S. dollars, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The report, citing three people familiar with the closed-door briefing between the Pentagon and Congress, said the figure, thought to be the most comprehensive preliminary estimate Congress has received so far, does not include many related expenses, such as the buildup of military hardware and personnel before the first strikes.

As a result, bipartisan lawmakers expect the number to rise significantly as the Pentagon continues calculating costs accumulated during the first week, the report added.

Early strikes used weapons including highly capable precision-guided AGM-154 glide bombs, which cost from 578,000 dollars to 836,000 dollars each, the report said, adding the U.S. Navy purchased about 3,000 of the bombs roughly two decades ago.

Both The New York Times and The Washington Post previously reported that Pentagon officials told Congress the military used about 5.6 billion dollars in munitions just in the first two days of the strikes jointly launched by the United States and Israel on Feb. 28.