How much do artillery shells, grenades and bullets cost?

Very random, and slightly tasteless question I guess! I've heard that the British army has used the most number of rounds of ammo since the Korean war (???), and was wondering what the cost of of this equipment is to the UK???

How much do artillery shells, grenades and bullets cost?
The army buys them in bulk. Let's look at some typical types of ammunition.



Rifle Cartridge. 5.56mm. For the M16. 1000 rounds (= 1000 bullets) costs maybe $500 commercially. The Army pays somewhat less than that. That's about 50 cents each.



The US Army/Military uses about 1.7 billion rounds (= bullets) annually. 80% is in training.



At the other end of the range, a Tomahawk cruise missile costs about $575,000 each for the latest version (previous ones cost maybe to three times that). The current ones a cheaper becuase they are being bought in larger quantities.



An artillery round (a dumb, unguided projectile) costs about $1500. A precision guided round thus much more likely to hit exactly where it is aimed, and to hit with one shot) is more inthe range of $30,000 to $80,000.

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Reply:It is scary just how much money goes into the military...



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Reply:I think its hard to set a price for each bullet. Each country has a deal with each producerer that describes what first each system cost and then how much each round cost. My guess is that the price is cheapest for bullets and expensivest for artellery shells. Its also likely that the more you bye the less each unit will cost. Johan.
Reply:the cost is so astronomical that we shouldn't ask! be sides,if it protects our troops it doesn't matter . the Govt. wastes more on trivial things.
Reply:The real cost is in lives saved / lost, can `t put a pound/ dollar on that.
Reply:Hi %26gt;

Not sure of the total costs - you would have to ask th MOD

But, I do know that depending on the customer, say a Rapier missile is around ￡10000-15000 a go.

That is no secret, but you could extrapolate.

A 303 bullet is about ￡0.80 a go, so a few thousand rounds, mostly hitting trees and such is a bit of a waste.

The equipment to fire these things runs into billions.

I dread to think what the totals for Korea, Vietnam and all recent conflicts come to.

Having payed my taxes - how charming !
Reply:Can`t cost that much, the amount that get used every day
Reply:Since the war out in Iraq...the UK Government has spent over ￡20billion pounds on tanks, missiles, bullets etc.

One Chieftain Tank with all the trimmings can cost the Taxpayer over ￡8million pounds.

A 3.75 Rifle/Automatic Between ￡3000-￡3500

A bullet for this weapon ranges about ￡2.00 to ￡15.00 depending on whether it is Standard, Armour Piercing or Tracer.
Reply:A question within an answer. If we get the oil will it have been a viable operation or just another labour white elephant.
Reply:billions.