US Weapons Systems
25 major programs · $3T total cost · 2 cancelled
$3T
Total Program Costs
25
Major Programs
9
50%+ Over Budget
2
Cancelled (Billions Wasted)
Most Expensive Programs
#1#2#3#4#5#6#7#8#9#10
F-35 Lightning II
Fighter Aircraft · Lockheed Martin · In Production
$1700B
+183% overrun
B-21 Raider
Bomber · Northrop Grumman · Development
$203B
Sentinel (GBSD)
ICBM · Northrop Grumman · Development
$141B
+81% overrun
Columbia Class Submarine
Submarine · General Dynamics · Development
$132B
+10% overrun
Gerald R. Ford Class Carrier
Aircraft Carrier · Huntington Ingalls · In Production
$120B
+27% overrun
Virginia Class Submarine
Submarine · General Dynamics/HII · In Production
$114B
+12% overrun
DDG-51 Flight III (Arleigh Burke)
Destroyer · HII/General Dynamics · In Production
$85B
+15% overrun
F-22 Raptor
Fighter Aircraft · Lockheed Martin · Active
$67.3B
+89% overrun
Ground Based Midcourse Defense
Missile Defense · Boeing · Active
$67B
V-22 Osprey
Tiltrotor · Boeing/Bell · Grounded (2024)
$56.1B
+200% overrun
By Category
Fighter Aircraft (2)
Bomber (2)
Tiltrotor (1)
Tanker (1)
Drone (2)
Aircraft Carrier (1)
Surface Ship (1)
Destroyer (1)
Frigate (1)
Main Battle Tank (1)
Missile Defense (2)
ICBM (1)
Cruise Missile (1)
Nuclear Weapon (2)
The Procurement Machine
The Pentagon's weapons acquisition system is designed to spend money, not save it. Programs routinely exceed budgets by 50-200%, take decades longer than planned, and sometimes get cancelled after billions are spent. The military-industrial complex Eisenhower warned about has only grown more powerful.