By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The annual cost of replacing, repairing and upgrading Army equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan is expected to more than triple next year to higher than $17 billion, according to Army documents obtained by The Associated Press.
From 2002 to 2006, the Army spent an average of $4 billion a year in annual equipment costs. As the war takes a harder toll on the military, that number is projected to balloon to more than $12 billion for the federal budget year that starts Oct. 1, the documents show.
The $17 billion also includes an additional $5 billion in equipment expenses that the Army requested in previous years but has not yet been provided.