One can insert in context a cost at one point For instance The one time buy of M16A1 rifles by the US Army was for a unit cost of 100 Even then contracts are not exact either A contract can have penalties incentives delivery costs support costs development costs and an absurd array of factors which make any one number meaningless Take the B 2 if you re fond of aircraft Prices for individual planes hovered between 277 m and 1 1b depending on who you asked Prices when they included the cost of development and support infrastructure have topped 3 billion That s a lie of course If you were to have added one bomber to the end of the production run it would have cost around 350 m extra Is that the actual cost of the bomber then