Governmental estimates of US’s spending in the bombing campaign in Libya may have been one seventh of its actual cost, a military expert’s calculation suggests. The worst case figure is US$2.7 billion, or even more.
Francis Tusa, editor of Defense Analysis, used data provided in answers to parliamentary questions and figures published by the Royal Air Force (RAF) since the operation in Libya started.
He used two methods of calculation to estimate how much UK Ministry of Defense spent on bombing Muammar Gaddafi out of power.
One method says the operation to the end of August took between $2.13 billion and $2.44 billion. The other one gives a potentially higher result – between $1.31 billion and $2.70 billion.
The calculation did not include the cost of the continuing Libyan operation in September, or some other costs, like the transportation of hardware from the UK to the military base in Gioia del Colle, Italy.
Earlier in June the government said it estimates overall cost of the campaign at $401 million.
