US nuclear weapons costs projected to soar to $946 billion
The cost of modernizing the US nuclear forces through 2034 is expected to rise to $946 billion.
A new report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects nuclear operations and modernization costs in the US to reach $946 billion in ten years.
The CBO projection is for the 2025–2034 period, which is based on the Department of Defense's (DoD's) and the Department of Energy's (DoE's) fiscal year 2025 budget requests submitted in March 2024.
As described in the fiscal year 2025 budget and supporting documents, it would cost an average of about $95 billion a year over a span of a decade to operate and modernize US nuclear forces.
CBO estimates that plans for U.S. nuclear forces, as described in the fiscal year 2025 budget and supporting documents, would cost $946 billion over the 2025–2034 period, $190 billion more than CBO's 2023 estimate for the 2023–2032 period. https://t.co/mqIy9rH1Z3
— U.S. CBO (@USCBO) April 24, 2025
The new projection is 25 percent higher compared to last year's estimate and excludes an 81 percent cost overrun from the Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) program.
The rise in costs could hamper lawmakers' efforts to bolster the US military budget to $1 trillion by 2026 as US President Donald Trump has promised, according to analysts.
However, Trump is said to be reluctant to developing new nuclear weapons and has shown interest in negotiating comprehensive arms deal with other countries instead.
The nuclear budget is a joint responsibility between the DoD and the DoE, and making decisions about it is a challenging task for US lawmakers striving to upgrade the aging US nuclear forces to maintain a competitively high global standard.
Meanwhile, experts say the rising expenses pose challenges for future defense budgets and complicate diplomatic efforts with Russia and China on arms control.
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