The Most Expensive Equipment & Weaponry Lost Or Left Behind By The US Military
Story by Erynn Ruiz • 10h
In 2024, the Department of Defense requested a budget of $849.8 billion for 2025. While those billions of dollars are nothing to scoff at, the request was actually lower than the budget for 2023. Some changes to the budget for the 2025 request include items like an Army aircraft divestment increase, with reductions in aircraft divestments for the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. With that much money being poured into military operations, it's not the wildest thought to imagine that the U.S. military is spending millions of dollars on equipment and weaponry.
Not only is building military equipment and weaponry expensive, but so is operating it. The ongoing multi-hundred-billion-dollar military budget covers many things, from commissioning new aircraft to maintaining them. Flying U.S. military aircraft costs tens of thousands of dollars per hour. But what happens when that aircraft — or other equipment and weaponry — gets lost?
Unfortunately, the U.S. military has had quite a few instances of missing or left-behind equipment. In some cases, that equipment costs anywhere from millions to billions of dollars. Here are some of the most expensive losses and abandoned military items with price tags that are hard to believe.
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