Common questions

Why is the F-35 so expensive?

Why is the F-35 so expensive?

Why has the F-35 become so expensive? The reason for it to be so tremendously expensive originates in a smart idea that the US officials came up with, that mass production always costs less.

How much does it cost to produce an F-35?

The F-35 program is expected to cost taxpayers a total of $1.7 trillion across its lifecycle, according to the Pentagon’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office’s 2020 estimate.

How many f35 will the USAF buy?

The Air Force plans to buy 1,763 F-35A conventional takeoff and landing models throughout the program of record. However, the total lifecycle cost of supporting that number of aircraft remains more than what the service projects it can afford.

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Can I buy a f14?

Can a civilian purchase an F-14 Tomcat from military surplus? – Quora. No. The Toms were gutted and their parts – except for ones that could be used in other military aircraft – destroyed when they were retired. The ones in museums are basically just shells.

Can I buy a military jet?

No, because there are no ‘civilianized versions’ of fighter jets. There are some fighter jets that are demilitarized such that they are not usable as warplanes that are privately owned and operated, but ‘owned’ much more than ‘operated’. All are of foreign manufacture and have been imported.

How many F-22s are there?

A contingent of 25 F-22s may not necessarily seem like a large number, but, at present, the Air Force only has around 186 of these jets. Of those, only 125 of them are assigned to combat-coded units, with the rest being set aside for various training and test and evaluation duties.

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Are Tomcats still flying?

The Tomcat was retired by U.S. Navy on 22 September 2006, having been supplanted by the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Several retired F-14s have been put on display across the US. The F-14 remains in service with Iran’s air force, having been exported to Iran under the Pahlavi regime in 1976.

How much will the F-35 really cost the US?

DOD plans to acquire nearly 2,500 F-35 aircraft for about $400 billion. It projects spending another $1.27 trillion to operate and sustain them—an estimate that has steadily increased since 2012.

Is the Air Force’s F-35 bill too high?

At this very moment, F-35 fleets are receiving a projected $16 billion upgrade to software and other components that’s already two years behind schedule and $1.5 billion over budget. All these developments apparently have the Air Force coming around to the idea that the bill for using the F-35 for routine tasks is just too high.

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Is the F-35 Lightning II the future of the Air Force?

Yichuan Cao / Sipa USA via AP file The Air Force is now considering a replacement for its F-16 fighter jet replacement. With an estimated lifetime cost of $1.6 trillion, the F-35 Lightning II, conceived as a versatile, super stealthy next-generation fighter plane, is the most expensive weapon system ever built.

Should Congress make future F-35 acquisitions contingent on sustainment costs?

We recommended, among other things, that Congress consider making future F-35 acquisitions contingent on progress reducing sustainment costs. F-35 mission capable rates—a measure of the readiness of an aircraft fleet—have recently improved, but still fall short of warfighter requirements.