The Costs of War: A response to the recent Canadian Forces press release re: "Canadian warplanes drop 240 smart bombs on Libya"

This is my response to the CP article found here.


The article recaps the Armed Forces press briefing in which it is revealed that "Canadian warplanes have dropped 240 laser-guided bombs on Libyan targets since March 31". The article goes on to say that "Military officials won't discuss how much those smart bombs cost taxpayers, or how much the entire mission has cost to date."


So naturally I started wondering about this, and began to speculate. So I began looking into it.


The "227-kilogram, laser-guided bombs" to which the article refers are most likely none other than the Enhanced Paveway II 500-pound GBU-49, which the Canadian Forces began using in 2009. Refer to this Raytheon press release.


Now, I had trouble finding a price tag for these things... I'm not exactly experienced in seeking out the prices for weapons... but I was eager to get some idea of just how much those 240 bombs have cost us over the past 26 days.


I couldn't find an official press release stating the exact price, but with the little time I've set aside for this, I was able to find this Danish article, which states: "The Tactical Air Command reports that around half of the ammunition used so far is 500-pound bombs of the GBU-49 type, which cost 300,000 kroner each."


I went to www.xe.com to see what that equates to in CAD. According to Mid-market rates as of 2011-05-25 21:01 UTC, 300,000.00 DKK = 55,388.22 CAD.


So, to put an approximate price tag on these 240 bombs dropped in the past 26 days:

240 x 55,388.22 CAD = 13,293,172.80 CAD



I admit that I don't have an authoritative source on the exact price of these bombs, but I hope that nonetheless this little note will give you an idea of just how much money is spent "behind the curtain" of war.

Sublime - New Realization (Cover by JB)

I can't stop playing this song over the past few days... so I decided to upload it. I wish I could get better quality from my laptop microphone, but this is the best it could offer. Nonetheless... enjoy!