At roughly $41 million per missile in 2023 dollars — and reportedly higher for the first eight missiles requested in the FY2025 budget — the Dark Eagle sits at a price point that makes magazine depth a genuine strategic liability. A single battery holds eight rounds. The arithmetic is uncomfortable.

The Congressional Budget Office’s January 2023 study on U.S. hypersonic weapons placed the per-unit cost of intermediate-range boost-glide missiles comparable to the LRHW at that $41 million figure for a 300-missile buy. Army program officials confirmed in discussions with the Congressional Research Service that the actual fly-away cost for the initial FY2025 procurement would exceed that estimate. The standard procurement logic applies — costs should fall as production quantities rise — but the Army has not yet demonstrated that production scale is achievable at the pace operational demand would require.