As U.S. forces led the way in taking out Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s air defense and communications systems, then began pounding his army units, the military “incurred added costs of about $550 million through [Monday],” a Pentagon official told The Hill in an email.

Around 60 percent of that is from the munitions fired at Libyan targets, the official said, adding “the remaining costs are for higher operating tempo of U.S. forces and deployment costs.”