Main source: I ask that cost of weapon. - Axis History Forum
**German Wehrmacht** Currency Conversion Rate: 1 USD = 2.5 Reichsmarks
AA
2cm Flak30: 7k (1934.4-). FLUGABWEHRKANONE 30 - Quartermaster Section
$1400. 2cm Flak38: 17,589 (1934.4-1945); 3500RM. 2 cm Flak 30, Flak 38 and Flakvierling 38 - Wikipedia FLUGABWEHRKANONE 38 - Quartermaster Section
2cm Flakvierling38: 3768 (1940.3-). 2cm FLAKVIERLING 38 - Quartermaster Section
3.7cm Flak 18/36/37: 20,243 (1936-1945). 3.7 cm Flak 18/36/37 - Wikipedia
$13,440. 8.8cm Flak18/36/37/41: 21,310 (1933-1945); 33,600RM. 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41 - Wikipedia
AT
$1800. 2.8cm sPzB41: 2797 (1940-1943), 4500RM. 2.8 cm sPzB 41 - Wikipedia
$2292. 3.7cm/45 Pak36: 20k (1933-1943), 5730RM. 3.7 cm Pak 36 - Wikipedia
$4240. 5cm/60 Pak38: 9566 (1940-1943), 10,600RM. 5 cm Pak 38 - Wikipedia
$4800. 7.5cm/46 Pak40: 23,303(1942-1945), 12kRM. 7.5 cm Pak 40 - Wikipedia
$10.4kRM 8.8cm/71 Pak40: ~2.1k (1943-1945), 26kRM. 8.8 cm Pak 43 - Wikipedia
mortars
$160. 5cm mortar Granatwerfer36: 31,800(1936-1943); 400RM. 5 cm Granatwerfer 36 - Wikipedia
Kz 8cm GrW42 : 1,591 (1941-1945). Kz 8 cm GrW 42 - Wikipedia
$324. 8cm mortar Gr.W.34: 75,255 (1934-1945), 8 cm Granatwerfer 34 - Wikipedia 810RM (1939). The cost of WW2 infantry weapons - Knowledge Glue
Gr.W.42: 1591(1941-1945). Kz 8 cm GrW 42 - Wikipedia
$480. 12cm mortar Gr.W.42: 8461(1943-1945), Granatwerfer 42 - Wikipedia 1200RM (1939). The cost of WW2 infantry weapons - Knowledge Glue
arty
7.5cm leIG-18 infantry gun: ~12k (1932-1945). 7.5 cm leichtes InfanteriegeschĂĽtz 18 - Wikipedia
7.5cm leIG-37 infantry gun: 1,304 (1944.6-) 7.5cm INFANTERIEGESCHĂśTZ 37 - Quartermaster Section
15cm sIG-33 infantry gun: 4,565 (1933-) 15cm SCHWERE INFANTERIEGESCHĂśTZ 33 - Quartermaster Section
7.5cm FK 16 nA howitzer: 298 (1934-). 7.5cm FELDKANONE 16 NEUER ART - Quartermaster Section
$6,560. 105mm leFH-18 howitzer: >22k (1935-1945), 16,400RM (1943). Many were upgraded into the leFH-18M. 10.5 cm leFH 18 - Wikipedia
10.5cm leFH-18M howitzer: 10,245 (1941-). 10.5cm LEICHTE FELDHAUBITZE 18M - Quartermaster Section
10.5cm leFH-18/40 howitzer: 10,215 (1942-). 10.5cm LEICHTE FELDHAUBITZE 18/40 - Quartermaster Section
10.5cm howitzer shell: $32.
$15,400. 15cm sFH-18 howitzer: 6756 (1933-1945), 40,400RM (1944). 15 cm sFH 18 - Wikipedia
10cm K-18 cannon: 2135 (1934-) 10cm KANONE 18 - Quartermaster Section
17cm K-18 cannon: 338 (1941.4-) 17cm KANONE 18 - Quartermaster Section
21cm Mrs-18: 711 (1936.7-) 21cm MĂ–RSER 18 - Quartermaster Section
15cm NbW-41: 5283 (1941-) 15cm NEBELWERFER 41 - Quartermaster Section
21cm NbW-42: 2626 (1942-) 21cm NEBELWERFER 42 - Quartermaster Section
28/32cm NbW-41: 345 (1941-) 28/32cm NEBELWERFER 41 - Quartermaster Section
30cm NbW-42: 954 (1943-) 30cm NEBELWERFER 42 - Quartermaster Section
30cm RWF-56: 694 (1944-) 30cm RAKETENWERFER 56 - Quartermaster Section
transports
Transport trucks:
Kfz. 69 “Protze” 2.6t prime mover: 7k (1934-1941). Krupp Protze - Wikipedia
Opel Blitz: 130k (1935-1944). Opel Blitz - Wikipedia
Half-tracks
$14.4k Sd.Kfz. 7 8-ton APC/prime mover: 12,187 (1938-1944); 36kRM. Sd.Kfz. 7 - Wikipedia
$18.4k Sd.Kfz. 8 14-ton prime mover: ~4k (1937-1944), 46kRM. Sd.Kfz. 8 - Wikipedia
$6k Sd.Kfz. 10 11-ton prime mover: ~14k (1938-1945), 15kRM. Sd.Kfz. 10 - Wikipedia
$8.8k Sd.Kfz. 11 7-ton prime mover: ~9k (1938-1945), 22kRM. Sd.Kfz. 11 - Wikipedia
$8168 Sd.Kfz. 250 6-ton APC: ~6628 (1941-1945), 20,420RM. Sd.Kfz. 250 - Wikipedia
$9024 Sd.Kfz. 251 8-ton APC/SPW: >15,252 (1939-1945), 22,560RM. Sd.Kfz. 251 - Wikipedia
armored cars and tanks
Armored cars
$9368 SdKfz.221/222/223 light armored reconnaissance vehicle: 2394 (1935-1944), 23,420RM. Leichter Panzerspähwagen - Wikipedia
$22,916 Schwerer Panzerspähwagen (heavy armored reconnaissance vehicle): ~1555 (1930-1945), $57,290RM. Schwerer Panzerspähwagen - Wikipedia
SdKfz.234/2 “Puma”: 101 (Sep1943-Sep1944). Panzerspähwagen Sd. Kfz. 234 (1942) (tank-afv.com)
Tanks: Product Prices (panzerworld.com)
Above is a big source of unit costs, sadly it does not mention the specific year.
Armored Vehicles. These prices include weapons and other normally installed equipment.
$20,000. Panzer IIC tank.
$40,000. Panzer IIIG (and later) tank.
$35k. Stug III. The cost of ww2 vehicles - Knowledge Glue
$46,387. Panzer IVG (and later) tank.
$60,000. Panzer V (Panther) tank.
$119,920. Panzer VIE (Tiger) tank.
aircraft
price data for 1941 for some German aircraft types , via Olaf Groehlers GdLK, 1910-1980:
Without engine / with engine, in Reichsmarks (RM)
Bf 109E: 58,000 / 85,970
Bf 110C: 155,800 / 210,140
He 111H: 203,900 / 265,650
Ju 88A: 245,200 / 306,950
Ju 87B: 100,300 / 131,175
Ju 52: 125,800 / 163,000
Do 17: 185 500 / 235 00
1940 Man hours required to build airframe.
4,000. Me-109 fighter.
20,000. Ju-88 medium bomber.
1942 Man hours required to build airframe.
3,500. Me-109 fighter.
5,400. Fw-190 fighter.
30,000. He-219 night fighter.
Aircraft Engine Prices.
45,000 to 65,000 marks for a BMW801 engine during 1942.
Germany Navy
2 battleships:
—Bismarck…197-million RM
—Tirpitz…181-million RM
2 battle-cruisers:
—Scharnhorst…143-million RM
—Gneisenau…146-million RM
3 armored ships:
—Deutschland…80-million RM
—Admiral Scheer…90-million RM
—Graf Spee…82-million RM
5 heavy cruisers:
—Hipper…85.8-million RM
—Blucher…87.8-million RM
—Prinz Eugen…104.5-million RM
—Seydlitz…84.1-million RM
—Lutzow…83.6-million RM
Type VII U boat. 2.5 million marks.
US
AA:
20mm Oerlikon : 124,734 (1941-1945US), $7000 (1941), $1658 (1945).
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia: 20mm Oerlikon Light AA Gun (kgbudge.com)
Artillery:
M1A1 75mm pack howitzer: 8.4k (1927-1944). M116 howitzer - Wikipedia
25k$ (1939) M2A1 105mm howitzer: 10,202 (1941-1953). M101 howitzer - Wikipedia
M3 105mm howitzer: 2,580 (1943-1945). 105mm Howitzer M3 | Weaponsystems.net
M1 155mm howitzer: 10.3k (1941-1953). M114 155 mm howitzer - Wikipedia
M1A1 155mm gun “Long Tom”: 1,882 (1940-1945). 155 mm gun M1 - Wikipedia
Transports
Willy’s MB jeep: >350k, ~$1,292.
Studebaker U6 truck: >200k, $1.7k.
The cost of ww2 vehicles - Knowledge Glue
armor
Armored Vehicles: Product Prices (panzerworld.com)
M3 Stuart “Honey tank” (1941.3-) Mk. I: 4,526, gasoline; Stuart Mk. II: 1,285, diesel. Light Tank M3 Stuart - Tank Encyclopedia (tanks-encyclopedia.com) Light Tank M3 Stuart - Tank Encyclopedia (tanks-encyclopedia.com)
$32,915 M3A1 (1942.5-1943.2). Stuart Mk. III: 4,410, gasoline; Stuart Mk. IV: 211, diesel. M3 Stuart - Wikipedia
M3A3 (Stuart Mk. V): 3,427 (-1943.10). M5 Stuart (1942-1944): 8,885. Light Tank M3 Stuart - Tank Encyclopedia (tanks-encyclopedia.com) Light Tank M3 Stuart - Tank Encyclopedia (tanks-encyclopedia.com)
$46,000. M4 Sherman tank. $49,997. M4A3E8 (Easy 8).
M4A1: 6,281 (1942.2-1943.12)
M4A2: 8,053 (1942.4-1944.5)
M4: 6,748 (1942.6-1944.1)
M4A3: 1,690 (1942.6-1943.9)
M4A4: 7,499 (1942.7-1943.11)
Production data is an excerpt from a big table from a good Wikipedia article: M4 Sherman - Wikipedia
$47.9k. M10 “Wolverine” tank destroyer: 6406 (1942.9-1943.12). M10 tank destroyer - Wikipedia
$55,230. M18 “Hellcat” tank destroyer: 2507 (1943.7-1944.10). M18 Hellcat - Wikipedia
$51,290. M36 “Jackson” tank destroyer: 2324 (1944.4-1945.5). M36 tank destroyer - Wikipedia
others
Ships, subs, and amphibious landing crafts:
$2M. Liberty ship: 2710 (1941-1945). Liberty ship - Wikipedia
$2,765k. Gato class submarine: 77 (1940-1944). Gato-class submarine - Wikipedia
$10.8k. DUKW amphibious truck: 21,147 (1942-1945). DUKW - Wikipedia
$12.5k. LCVP “Higgins boat”: 23,358+ (1942-1945). LCVP (United States) - Wikipedia
Aircraft:
$23k P-36 fighter.
$50k. F6F Hellcat fighter.
1942 Man hours required to build airframe.
12,000. P-51A fighter/dive bomber.
**UK and Commonwealth** 1 USD = .21 British pound.
AA:
20mm Oerlikon : ~30k (1939-1945UK) The Instrumental Oerlikon | Naval History Magazine - April 2016 Volume 30, Number 2 (usni.org)
20mm Hispano cannon ~42,500 (date, BSA) Hispano-Suiza HS.404 - Wikipedia
AT:
Ordnance QF 2-pounder: ~12k (1936-1945)
Arty:
Ordnance QF 25-pounder: 13k. Ordnance QF 25-pounder - Wikipedia
Transports:
Universal Carrier: ~113k (-1960). Universal Carrier - Wikipedia
Aircraft:
Lancaster heavy bomber. The air ministry paid an average of just under ÂŁ32,000 per Lancaster. The cost of the first Lancaster built by A. V. Roe was ÂŁ22,000, by 1944 the price had fallen to ÂŁ15,500.42,000 pounds sterling. 1943 price. suspect the difference between those figures is whether engines, guns, radios, radar etc are included.
1940 Man hours required to build airframe.
10,300. Hurricane fighter.
15,200. Spitfire fighter. Another source states 13,000 man hours.
Aircraft Engine Prices.
$25,000 Packard-built RR Merlin engine.
$19,000 Allison V-1710 engine.
$16,500 Wright R-2600 engine.
$10,000 Wright R-1820 engine.
**USSR Red Army:**
1 USD = 5.3 Russian rubles. Official exchange rate was pegged artificially low. Real USD price should be about 1 USD per 10 rubles.
Mortars:
5cm mortar RM38,PM18,PM39,PM40,PM41: 174,868 RM.38 - Quartermaster Section
81mm BM37 mortar: large quantities, 6740R (1939) 82mm BM-37 | Weaponsystems.net
Aircraft:
Il-2: 36,183 (1941-1945). Ilyushin Il-2 - Wikipedia ~330kR (1941), ~191kR (1942), ~162kR (1943).
Source: Table B.2, Harrison, Accounting for War, Cambridge University Press, 2002
To place into the Soviet context, the average hourly wage of an industrial worker over these years was:
1940: 1.93R
1941: 1.77R
1942: 1.70R
1943: 1.72R
1944: 1.84R
1945: 2.19R
Source: Table G7, op.cit.
Tanks:
T-26: 10,3k (1931-1941). T-26 - Wikipedia
BT-7: 5753 (1935-1940). BT-7 - Wikipedia
The T-26 was 1.5 times cheaper than the BT.
$29.9k. T-50: 75 (1941.7-1942.3), 298kR (1941). Tank Archives: The Unluckiest Next Generation Tank
$30,943. T-34/76 tank: 35,119 (1940-1944), 398kR (=<1941), 269.5kR (1941), 193kR (1942), production time was cut in half. 164kR (1943).
~$15k. T-34/85 tank: 29,430 (1944-1946). T-34 - Wikipedia
KV -1,2,85: 4,581
IS -1,2: 3,854
SU-76: 12,671
SU-85: 2,050
SU-100: 1,675
SU-122: 1,148
SU-152: 4,779
others
Polish Army : 1 USD = 5.31 Poland zloty.
Armored Vehicles. These prices include weapons and other normally installed equipment.
$34,181. 7TP light tank: 149 (1935-1939). 10 tons. 37mm main gun. 17mm armor.
French Army : 1 USD = 37.7 French frank.
Armored Vehicles. These prices include weapons and other normally installed equipment.
$37,096. R35 light tank. 10 tons. 37mm main gun. 43mm armor.
Japanese weapons
￥140k. Type 97 Chi-Ha tank: 1162 (1938-1943). Type 97-Kai: 930. Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank - Wikipedia
￥55k~120k. Mitsubishi A6M Zero Reisen: 10,939 (1939-1945). Mitsubishi A6M Zero - Wikipedia
￥70k. Mitsubishi J2M “Jack” fighter: 621 (1942.12-1945.8). Mitsubishi J2M - Wikipedia
￥200k. Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” bomber: 2435 (1941.4.2-1945). Mitsubishi G4M - Wikipedia
￥10k. Fu-Go Incendiary balloon bomb: 9.3k (1944-1945). Incendiary balloon - Wikipedia
￥12M. Akizuki class destroyer: 12 (1940-1945). Akizuki-class destroyer (1942) - Wikipedia
￥16.4M. Agano class CL: 4 (1942.10.31-1944.11.30) Agano-class cruiser - Wikipedia
￥140M. Yamato class battleship: 2 (1941-1945). Yamato-class battleship - Wikipedia
￥110M Shokaku class carrier (aircrafts included): 2 (1941-1944). Shōkaku-class aircraft carrier - Wikipedia
Aren’t comparisons and price lists like these at the end of the day pretty meaningless?
Firstly, and this is kinda hard to understand these days, but currencies back then didn’t have an free exchange market as we know it today. As a result, some currencies were vastly overpriced compared to others, since exchange rates were fixed.
Secondly, both trade and wages were in many cases controlled and set by the state. For example, wages in Germany were set by the state, so they can’t easily be compared with the free wages in the US. (Converted to dollars, a German wage, for example, might be higher than an American wage, but the purchasing power was vastly different, among other things because of rationing.)
It also important to remember, that there wasn’t a free market for many goods and resources at the time. (Not just because of rationing, but also pre-war). Since an aircraft manufacturer in Germany, for example, paid a vastly different price for both raw materials and labor than a manufacturer in the UK or USA (for example rubber or wolfram, but also less sparse materials) such a comparison is not just pretty much impossible to make in a realistic way, it’s also very misleading.