The U.S. Defense Department has committed more than $7 million over the past 30 days in support of search operations for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Army Col. Steven Warren, a Pentagon spokesman said on Wednesday in Washington.
“This includes the cost of our ships, helicopters and planes involved in the search,” he said. “Within that $7.3 million is also the contract for the underwater surveillance equipment — that’s $3.6 million.”
Warren noted the $3.6 million includes the costs for the contracted Bluefin-21 autonomous underwater vehicle. That figure also covers the cost of the vehicle’s 10 contractor-operators, he added.