How much do UAVs cost
The unit cost for one Predator is about $4.5 million, according to DHS estimates. But the costs of operating a UAV can become more than double the costs of operating a manned aircraft, said the Congressional Research Service (CRS) last summer.(See Homeland Security: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Border Surveillance.).ased on that figure, keeping one UAV in the air every hour of the year would cost about $28.5 million. Homeland Security Todayâs Mickey McCarter has written the most thorough piece on SBInet that I have seen in the past several years.