The cost of a war of choice. This morning Kuwaiti air defenses mistakenly shot down three US F-15 fighter jets in a friendly fire incident. All crew were safely accounted for, but tens of millions of dollars worth of fighter jets fell from the sky in the worst such loss in decades. The F-15E Strike Eagle model costs $31.1 million in 1998 constant dollars, according to a U.S. Air Force fact sheet. The current F-15EX cost between $90 million and $100 million each – meaning that replacing these planes will cost over $270 million.
- $270 Million would pay for school lunch for around 60 million students. At the typical reimbursement rate for free school meals, about 60 million lunches could be served to American kids for $270 million.
- More than half a million families could receive home heating assistance for $270 million. Households eligible for LIHEAP assistance for home heating receive an average of $380 a year nationally. For $270 million, about 710,000 families could receive help to keep their homes heated and pay their utility bills.
- Around 20,000 kids could enroll in Head Start for $270 million. The median cost for a Head Start slot is $14,532. For $270 million around 20,000 kids could receive high quality early childhood education.
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