The Most Expensive Weapons the US Military is Buying

When United States President Joe Biden signed the 2023 defense budget, it gave the Pentagon approval to spend $816.7 billion on defense in the current fiscal year. However, the Department of Defense increased its monetary request in its fiscal year 2024 budget, asking lawmakers to approve a budget of $841.4 billion, about $26 billion more than the current budget and $100 million more than fiscal year 2022. This request was approved by Congress and the House in late 2023 and is expected to be signed by President Biden.

This FY2024 Pentagon budget will allow the United States to continue to be a big global outlier in defense spending as the nation invests heavily in maintaining its air, land, and sea military superiorities with new, upgraded – and often extremely expensive – hardware. In total, the U.S. military is investing $54.4 billion in these weapons systems in the upcoming fiscal year. (Here is how the world’s top military spenders compare to the U.S.)

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the DOD’s released Fiscal 2024 Budget Request to identify the most expensive weapons the military is buying this year. To find the cost of each weapons system we divided the total requested budget allocation of each weapons system by the number of units requested. These unit cost figures may not always be equivalent to the total sticker price of a given weapon for reasons including rounding; spending on research, development, testing, and evaluation; planned modifications to existing weapons; or because often part of the budget for a particular weapon is early payment on weapons that will be bought in years to come. (Also see, the 35 billion-dollar weapons in the 2024 U.S. military budget.)

All data is from the DOD FY24 budget proposal, Program Acquisition Cost By Weapons System document. While all the weapons on the list have a budget allocation of more than $10 million, two have total FY2024 budget allocations that top $10 billion. One of these highest-ticket allocations is an order for 83 high-tech F-35 fighter jets for $10.2 billion, a year after the DOD allocated $9.1 billion in FY2023 for 77 of these jets. The DOD has also allocated $10.6 billion for two Virginia-class nuclear-powered fast-attack submarines. In FY2023, the DOD allocated $17.6 billion for two of these submarines.

Eight other weapons have FY2024 budget allocations of between $1.7 billion and $5.9 billion, including two Arleigh Burke destroyers for $4.6 billion and a newcomer to the list of costliest weapons: the $5.9 billion USS Columbia (SSBN-826) next-generation nuclear ballistic missile submarine. This vessel is currently under construction at the General Dynamics Electric Boat facility at Quonset Point, Rhode Island, with an expected delivery date of 2027, followed by years of testing before its first patrol, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.

Nine of the weapons systems on the list that cost between $968 million and $5.9 billion per unit will be used by the U.S. Navy, reflecting just how costly it is to maintain U.S. naval superiority relative to other branches of the military. Five of these high-cost weapons will go to the U.S. Army, including 50 Black Hawk and 42 new or remanufactured Apache helicopters, each costing $18.3 million and $19.7 million, respectively, and 34 modified or upgraded M-1 Abrams tanks at $23.5 million apiece.

Here are the most expensive weapons the U.S. Military is buying

25. Aegis Sea-Based Weapons System

Weapon cost, FY2024: $17.4 million per acquired missile system
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 48 missile systems (39 interceptors, 9 hardware+software installs)
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $835.4 million — #27 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 77 missile systems (71 interceptors, 6 hardware + software installs)
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $1.2 billion — #21 most expensive
Service branches: Joint Service
Primary contractor(s): Boeing

24. UH-60 Black Hawk

Homeland Security UH-60 Black ... by D. Miller

Homeland Security UH-60 Black ... (CC BY 2.0) by D. Miller

Weapon cost, FY2024: $18.3 million per acquired helicopter
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 50 helicopters (24 UH-60Ms, 26 UH-60Vs)
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $915.5 million — #26 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 63 helicopters (35 UH-60Ms, 28 UH-60Vs)
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $1.2 billion — #20 most expensive
Service branches: Army
Primary contractor(s): Sikorsky, Redstone Defense Systems

23. Paladin Integrated Management

Weapon cost, FY2024: $19.6 million per acquired artillery vehicle
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 24 artillery vehicles
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $469.2 million — #42 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 43 artillery vehicles
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $680.1 million — #37 most expensive
Service branches: Army
Primary contractor(s): BAE Systems

22. THAAD Terminal High Altitude Area Defense

Missile Training (CC BY 2.0) by @USArmy

Weapon cost, FY2024: $19.7 million per acquired missile defense system
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 11 missile defense systems
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $216.8 million — #57 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 18 missile defense systems
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $240.0 million — #56 most expensive
Service branches: Joint Service
Primary contractor(s): Lockheed Martin

21. AH-64E Apache: Remanufacture/New Build

Weapon cost, FY2024: $19.7 million per acquired helicopter
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 42 helicopters
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $828.9 million — #28 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 33 helicopters
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $693.9 million — #36 most expensive
Service branches: Army
Primary contractor(s): Boeing

20. AO Armed Overwatch / Targeting

AirTractor Paris... (CC BY-SA 3.0) by PvK

Weapon cost, FY2024: $22.2 million per acquired aircraft
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 12 aircraft
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $266.8 million — #52 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 9 aircraft
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $246.0 million — #55 most expensive
Service branches: Joint Service
Primary contractor(s): L-3 Harris

19. M-1 Abrams Tank Modification/Upgrades

Weapon cost, FY2024: $23.5 million per acquired tank
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 34 tanks
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $800.3 million — #31 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 90 tanks
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $1.2 billion — #17 most expensive
Service branches: Army
Primary contractor(s): General Dynamics Land Systems

18. Tomahawk Tactical Tomahawk Cruise Missile

Weapon cost, FY2024: $23.9 million per acquired missile
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 34 missiles (34 for Marines)
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $811.5 million — #30 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 68 missiles (13 for Marines, 55 for Navy)
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $781.8 million — #32 most expensive
Service branches: Navy
Primary contractor(s): Raytheon Missiles & Defense

17. MH-139A Grey Wolf

Weapon cost, FY2024: $35.6 million per acquired helicopter
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 7 helicopters
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $249.1 million — #54 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 5 helicopters
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $197.4 million — #59 most expensive
Service branches: Air Force
Primary contractor(s): Boeing

16. CH-47 Chinook

Weapon cost, FY2024: $40.4 million per acquired helicopter
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 6 helicopters
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $242.1 million — #56 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 9 helicopters
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $437.8 million — #47 most expensive
Service branches: Army
Primary contractor(s): Boeing

15. MQ-9 Reaper

MQ-9 Reaper (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Chris Hunkeler

Weapon cost, FY2024: $60.7 million per acquired drone
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 5 drones (5 for U.S. Navy/Marines)
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $303.6 million — #47 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 5 drones (5 for U.S. Navy/Marines)
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $438.6 million — #46 most expensive
Service branches: Joint Service
Primary contractor(s): General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Incorporated

14. F-15 Eagle

Weapon cost, FY2024: $120.8 million per acquired fighter jet
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 24 fighter jets
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $2.9 billion — #6 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 24 fighter jets
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $2.6 billion — #7 most expensive
Service branches: Air Force
Primary contractor(s): Lockheed Martin

13. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

Weapon cost, FY2024: $122.9 million per acquired fighter jet
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 83 fighter jets (35 for U.S. Navy/Marines, 48 for Air Force)
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $10.2 billion — #2 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 77 fighter jets (34 for U.S. Navy/Marines, 43 for Air Force)
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $9.1 billion — #1 most expensive
Service branches: Joint Service
Primary contractor(s): Lockheed Martin

12. C-130J Hercules

Weapon cost, FY2024: $138.1 million per acquired plane
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 2 planes (2 KC-130Js)
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $276.2 million — #51 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 21 planes (16 C-130Js, 5 KC-130Js)
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $2.3 billion — #9 most expensive
Service branches: Joint Service
Primary contractor(s): Lockheed Martin ; Marietta, GA

11. CH-53K Heavy Lift Replacement Helicopter

Weapon cost, FY2024: $146.4 million per acquired helicopter
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 15 helicopters
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $2.2 billion — #11 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 12 helicopters
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $2.3 billion — #10 most expensive
Service branches: Navy / Marine Corps
Primary contractor(s): Boeing, General Electric Company

10. NSSL & RSLP Launch Enterprise

Weapon cost, FY2024: $190.8 million per acquired Launch service
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 15 Launch services
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $2.9 billion — #8 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 10 Launch services
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $1.9 billion — #11 most expensive
Service branches: Space Force
Primary contractor(s): to be determined

9. KC-46A Tanker

N/A by Kansas City District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

N/A (CC BY 2.0) by Kansas City District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Weapon cost, FY2024: $192.2 million per acquired plane
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 15 planes
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $2.9 billion — #7 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 15 planes
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $2.5 billion — #8 most expensive
Service branches: Air Force
Primary contractor(s): Lockheed Martin

8. MQ-25 Stingray

Weapon cost, FY2024: $249.7 million per acquired drone
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 3 drones
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $749.0 million — #34 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 1 drone
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $882.9 million — #28 most expensive
Service branches: Navy / Marine Corps
Primary contractor(s): Boeing, Lockheed Martin

7. MQ-4C / RQ-4 Triton/Global Hawk/NATO AGS

Weapon cost, FY2024: $255.0 million per acquired drone
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 2 drones
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $510.0 million — #40 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 3 drones
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $788.6 million — #30 most expensive
Service branches: Joint Service
Primary contractor(s): Northrop Grumman; Rancho Bernardo, CA

6. T-AO 205 John Lewis Class Fleet Replenishment Oiler

Weapon cost, FY2024: $967.6 million per acquired ship
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 1 ship
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $967.6 million — #24 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 1 ship
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $958.2 million — #26 most expensive
Service branches: Navy
Primary contractor(s): General Dynamics

5. FFG(X) Constellation Class Guided Missile Frigate

Weapon cost, FY2024: $1.1 billion per acquired ship
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 2 ships
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $2.1 billion — #12 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 1 ship
Acquisition spending, FY2023: $1.1 billion — #22 most expensive
Service branches: Navy
Primary contractor(s): Huntington Ingalls Industries

4. AS(X) Submarine Tender Replacement

Weapon cost, FY2024: $1.7 billion per acquired ship
Requested acquisition, FY2024: 1 ship
Acquisition spending, FY2024: $1.7 billion — #14 most expensive
Requested acquisition, FY2023: 0 ship
Acquisition spending, FY2023: None
Service branches: Navy
Primary contractor(s): SpaceX. United Launch Alliance (ULA), Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab, USA, VOX Space