Elaine McCusker, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, provides a cost comparison:
~112 billion: Cost to the US so far, to support Ukraine with weapons and other equipment (most of this money goes to US arms manufacturers
vs
~808 billion: Projected additional US defense spending that will be needed over the next 5 years, if Russia wins the Ukraine war, including:
- $88 billion for 270,000 more US service members
- $31 billion to harden US facilities
- $109 billion to increase US air combat capabilities
- $28 billion for drone development
- $173 billion in air defenses
- $63 billion to enhance munitions production capability
- $50 in shipbuilding
- $185 in additional training and exercises
- $33 billion in spare parts stockpiling
- $10 expanding special operations forces
- $36 billion expanding space and cyber systems
