You can't say it's expensive without knowing the requirements - this is not only misleading, but it says something negative about the overall level of discourse

You can't say it's expensive without knowing the requirements - this is not only misleading, but it says something negative about the overall level of discourse we have. "Why did this system cost 86 million dollars" would be much more informative. It could be that the whole thing is a waste, but that would require an actual analysis.