The U.S. Department of Defense has spent more than $7 million on the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 since the plane went missing on March 8.
According to Army Col. Steven Warren:
“This includes the cost of our ships, helicopters and planes involved in the search. Within that $7.3 million is also the contract for the underwater surveillance equipment -- that’s $3.6 million.”
The biggest chunk of funds has gone towards the P-8 Poseidon aircraft, which has a $4,000-per-flight-hour operating cost.
Some may argue this money has been put to good use. The New York Times reported that on Tuesday, the U.S. Navy's black box locator, called the called the Towed Pinger Locator 25...
...detected two distinct signals, one lasting 5 minutes and 32 seconds, and the second lasting about seven minutes in an area over 1,000 miles northwest of Perth.
These signals are giving searchers the most hope they've had in the month-long search, Australian Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, head of the joint agency searching for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, told reporters.
And there is new hope Thursday, according to CNN. The network is reporting an Australian Defence Force RAAF AP-3C Orion aircraft detected yet another signal:
