There are 3 components multiplied, tech, expansions and AW levels.
There are 1185 AW levels to the range of the squad size difference from this factor alone from no AW levels (factor =1) to 1185 AW levels (0.003*1185 +1)=4.555, so this multiplication factor can be between 1 and 4.555. But the actual hit from the AW level is dependent on the number of land expansions. The more land expansions, the bigger the hit from each AW level.
So, there are 53 chapter expansions, 64 province expansions and 41 premium expansions as well as the 6 you start with for a maximum of 164 expansions. The more expansion you paid for, higher the cost of each AW level. I have 12 unplaced expansions at this time. I have 114 expansions, so each AW level is about 10% cheaper for me because of not placing the expansions.
It is a super dumb design. And by design, they are double counting AW levels with land expansions. Each AW you place uses land, so you get penalized twice, for the AW level, and for the land it sits on.
They should subtract the number of squares for an AW from the land expansion component of the equation.