$21,615,600,000
— The cost growth in Pentagon weaponry, from December 2011 to December 2012, due to increased quantities of arms slated to be bought. Twenty-two billion dollars may sound like a lot of money, but it represents only a 1.3% boost in the $1,660,983,300,000 total the U.S. military is spending on its 78 major weapons systems, according to the Pentagon's latest Selected Acquisition Report released Thursday, here. Overall cost growth was nearly $40 billion; the $22 billion increase is solely due to 2012’s plan to buy more ships, planes and missiles than had been called for in 2011. And you thought the Pentagon was cutting back.
