Check, Please: How Much Does It Cost to Shoot Down a Balloon?
“This afternoon (04 February 2023), at the direction of President Biden, U.S. fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Northern Command successfully brought down the high altitude surveillance balloon launched by and belonging to the People's Republic of China (PRC) over the water off the coast of South Carolina in U.S. airspace.” (1)
“Today (12 February 2023) at 2:42 p.m. ET, at the direction of President Biden, and based on the recommendations of Secretary Austin and military leadership, an F-16 fired an AIM9x to successfully shoot down an airborne object flying at approximately 20,000 feet altitude in U.S. airspace over Lake Huron in the State of Michigan.” (2)
(I’m omitting the contemporaneous shootdowns off the coast of Alaska and over the Yukon.)
So – may I have the check, please? How much did these actions cost?
Unit cost of an AIM9x Sidewinder missile: $472,000 (3)
Unit cost of an F-22 fighter jet (used off South Carolina): $143,000,000 (4)
Unit cost of an F-16 fighter jet (used over Lake Huron): between $14,600,000 and $18,800,000 (5)
Flight cost per hour of an F-22: “roughly $70,000”. (6)
Flight cost per hour of an F-16: $22,514. (7)
Costs of retrieval and analysis of wreckage? Who knows. (Who will ever know?)
P.S.: Cost to operate Air Force One: “Taxpayers fork over $206,337 every hour the world's most famous plane is in flight…” (8)
Sources:
(1) https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3288535/statement-from-secretary-of-defense-lloyd-j-austin-iii/
(2) https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3296111/statement-on-todays-actions-by-north-american-aerospace-defense-command/
(4) https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104506/f-22-raptor/
(5) https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104505/f-16-fighting-falcon/
(6) https://militarymachine.com/f-22-cost/
(7) https://executiveflyers.com/how-much-does-a-f-16-cost/
(8) https://www.businessinsider.com/price-to-fly-on-air-force-one-2015-2?op=1
