Present Value of Lend Lease Tanks

Some time ago, I posted some information on the cost of a Grant and two models of Shermans shipped to the UK during the war.  Basically, I took the total value of the Grants, and the Sherman M4A2 and the Sherman M2A4 shipped to the United Kingdom and divided it by the number of units shipped to calculate the cost of a single unit.

Using an inflation calculator I found on the internet(s), it appears that the cost of those tanks restated in 2010 dollars would be as follows:

                    
M3 Grant in 1942 dollars: $32,472 which is equivalent to $429,513.87 in 2010 dollars.


M4A2 in 1942 dollars:  $64,864 which is equivalent to $808804.44 in 2010 dollars.


M4A4 in 1942 dollars:  $64,877 which is equivalent to $844,158.62 in 2010 dollars.

According to the Department of Defense, the M1A2 Abrams cost $6.2 million in 1999, although that probably included some sort of maintenance package.

The British Challenger 2 cost approximately $6.797 million in 2002.

Modern tanks are larger (about 3 times as heavy) and significantly more sophisticated than their WWII ancestors but that still does not explain almost a seven fold increase in the per unit cost.