Q&A · 3:48:35-3:49:53

Did the V-2 cost more than the Manhattan Project?

The exchange leaves the V-2 comparison unresolved and instead uses the B-29 and Manhattan Project to illustrate programme scale.

Question

Did Germany spend more on the V-2 than the United States spent on the Manhattan Project?

Short answer

That comparison is doubted here. The stronger recollection is that the B-29 programme cost about 30 percent more than the Manhattan Project, although the figures are given from memory.

Notes

The V-2 comparison is doubted rather than resolved with a firm figure. Attention shifts to the B-29 programme, which is recalled as costing about 30 percent more than the Manhattan Project. Combining the bomber and atomic-bomb programmes produces an exceptionally large American military investment. Because the figures are given from memory, they illustrate the scale and interaction of major weapons programmes without settling an exact cost table.