> Why does a single missile cost $80k? Is it just profiteering or is there an actual technical/economic reason for this? Unit costs tend to be estimated by di

> Why does a single missile cost $80k? Is it just profiteering or is there an actual technical/economic reason for this? Unit costs tend to be estimated by dividing the total amount of cash spent on a weapons program and divide it per deployment unit. Let's put it this way: if you invest a million bucks on a R&D program for a donut factory and in the end you close shop after getting a single donut out of the program, that would mean that donut cost 1 million bucks to make.