U.S. Department of Defense Leadership Attends U.S. House Hearing [Washington Reuters=Yonhap News]

It has been confirmed that the cost of the war with Iran, initiated by the U.S. Donald Trump administration on February 28 and lasting for 10 weeks until the 12th (local time), has reached $29 billion (approximately 43 trillion won).

This was revealed by Jay Huston, the Pentagon's Inspector General (Under Secretary), at a hearing of the House Appropriations Committee's Defense Subcommittee on the Fiscal Year 2027 Defense Budget.

Huston had previously stated an estimated war cost of $25 billion at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the 29th of last month, indicating an increase of $4 billion (approximately 6 trillion won) in the two weeks since then.

"The Joint Chiefs of Staff and the audit team have continuously reviewed the estimates, and currently report that it is close to $29 billion," Huston stated in his testimony today.

"This is due to updated costs for equipment repair and replacement, and general operational costs incurred in maintaining troops in the theater," he explained the reasons for the cost increase.

In separate testimony at a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee's Defense Subcommittee, Huston stated that the costs did not include damage to U.S. military bases in the Middle East attacked by Iran.

In response to a related question from Senator Jack Reed (Democrat-Rhode Island), he said, "We are not currently estimating costs for Military Construction (MILCON). This is because we do not know what the future deployment posture of our military will be," adding, "We do not know how the bases will be rebuilt or what percentage of the cost will be borne by allies or partner nations."

When Reed asked, "So you're not considering facilities damaged by the war?" Huston replied, "We cannot provide an accurate estimate at this time."

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses, who also attended the hearing, did not provide a clear answer on whether the U.S. military would resume "Project Freedom," which supports the safe passage of civilian vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, following the recent breakdown of indirect ceasefire negotiations with Iran.

"We will not disclose operational options," Hegses said. "As the President has publicly stated, operations are currently suspended, considering Pakistan's request (as a mediator) and the options presented during negotiations, and these are options that can be resumed at any time if the Commander-in-Chief (U.S. President) wishes."

Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned in an interview with Fox News the previous day that while a final decision had not been made, the "Freedom Project" could be resumed and potentially expanded.

Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report today estimating the cost of developing, deploying, and operating "Golden Dome for America" (GDA), a next-generation air and missile defense system that the Trump administration is pursuing as a key component of homeland defense, at $1.2 trillion (1,791 trillion won) over the next 20 years.

This amount represents 80% of the $1.5 trillion defense budget requested by the Trump administration to Congress for fiscal year 2027.

The CBO explained, "The Department of Defense's FY2027 budget request includes a five-year funding plan for GDA, but detailed information about what systems will be deployed and how many (target architecture) is not publicly available, making long-term cost estimates impossible." The CBO therefore estimated the cost of a hypothetical missile defense system based on the defense systems and capabilities outlined in President Trump's executive order.

Furthermore, the hypothetical missile defense system is composed of four intercept layers: a space-based layer, two wide-area ground layers, and ground-based regional zone layers. The four-layer structure of the overall system provides the capability to simultaneously intercept multiple missiles launched by an adversary, while each layer can operate independently even if communication with the national command and control system is severed.