Appendix: the Price of Victory
Appendix: The Price of Victory According to official estimates and public statements, the War itself cost f800 million, replacement of eqmpment lost during the campaign cost f1172 million and the total capital costs incurred since 1982 have amounted to f2005 million (Figure A.2). The additional postwar defence costs will amount to almost B.6 billion over ten years (Figure A.1). A large amount of this expenditure has already been spent or committed, not only on the replacement of equipment but also on the building of a new strategic airfield at Mount Pleasant, 20 miles from Port Stanley, on the development of a military base, also at Mount Pleasant, to house the Islands' garrison, and on the related infrastructure facilities such as roads (almost non-existent outside the Islands' capital) and docks required for these developments (Figure A.1). But large capital expenditures remain outstanding together with the large running costs of the garrison. The postwar economic aid programme, including immediate rehabilitation and compensation of civilian losses and a six-year development plan, but excluding longer-term claims for compensation from the Islanders, totalled f51 million (Figure A.3). By 1992, therefore, the total expenditure on the War, on Fortress Falklands and on the economic aid extended to the Islands since 1982 will amount to at least f4.5 billion (Figure A.4, 1983-84 average prices). But this figure is almost certainly a large underestimate of the final cost which for various reasons is likely to be weil in excess of f5 billion. The f4.5 billion figure, for example, excludes a number of additional items of expenditure for which figures are not currently available or are difficult to estimate.
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