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From: biow@tove.cs.umd.edu (Christopher Biow)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: AA Missile costs?
Summary: 150K, 250K, .5-1M
Keywords: Sidewinder, Sparrow, Phoenix
Message-ID: <1990Oct23.005957.3247@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 23 Oct 90 00:59:57 GMT
References: <1990Oct19.032624.12839@cbnews.att.com>
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From: biow@tove.cs.umd.edu (Christopher Biow)

In article <1990Oct19.032624.12839@cbnews.att.com> jkh@bambam.pcs.com (Jordan K. Hubbard) writes:


>From: jkh@bambam.pcs.com (Jordan K. Hubbard)

>Every time I've read about various missile engagements where missiles
>were used rather profligately, I've wondered just exactly how much the
>damn things cost.

>Other references to "volleys of million dollar
>Phoenix missiles" in Clancy's books also make me wonder. So. Does
>anyone know what the respective costs for Sidewinder, Sparrow,
>Phoenix, etc, AA Missiles are? I'm talking about recent models of
>course.

>					Jordan

Very roughly, Navy versions of the Sidewinder are around $150,000, the Sparrow
about 250K, and the newest version of the Phoenix about a million a
copy. Remember that these prices are very much influenced by the quantity 
of the buy; the Phoenix does not inherently cost that much. 

Also, keep in mind that $ exchange ratios only have meaning in combat in a 
prolonged war of attrition. In a "come as you are war," most of the costs
are operational, during the decades the military was keeping ready for a
war. The number of guns/planes/missiles you have on M day is fixed more by 
these costs than by the sticker cost of the weapon in question. To pick an
absurd illustration, suppose that the M-16 rifle costs $500. Buying a $250
rifle that was almost as good would not double the number of rifles that
we could put in the field.

Chris