US Nuclear Force Costs Projected to Soar to $946 Billion Through 2034, CBO Says

The costs of operating and modernizing America's nuclear forces through 2034 are projected to soar to $946 billion, 25% higher than a 2023 estimate, a report by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said on Thursday.

The new projection, however, does not include an 81% cost overrun of the Sentinel, a new intercontinental ballistic missile being developed to replace the Trident III, the mainstay of the U.S.-based ICBM force, the report said.

Analysts said the massive increase in the costs of running and modernizing the world's second biggest nuclear arsenal would complicate U.S. President Donald Trump's pledge to boost the defense budget to $1 trillion in fiscal 2026.

Nuclear weapons expenditures are divided between the Pentagon and the Department of Energy, the caretaker of the U.S. arsenal.

"The costs of the existing nuclear modernization program are skyrocketing beyond all expectation, said Daryl Kimball, head of the Arms Control Association, an advocacy group.

The CBO warned that Congress will need to decide in coming years "what nuclear forces the United States should field in the future and therefore the extent to which the nation will modernize."