$2,000,000,000,000 for the F-35 Fighter: Historic Mistake?

We support our Publishers and Content Creators. You can view this story on their website by CLICKING HERE.

Key Points: The F-35 Lightning II, despite its staggering $2 trillion lifecycle cost, remains essential for U.S. and allied military readiness. While the aircraft boasts advanced stealth, electronic warfare, and future collaboration with unmanned drones, critics highlight soaring acquisition and sustainment costs.

Efforts to reduce operating expenses—such as cutting flight hours—may help, but these measures could limit pilot training, impacting combat preparedness.

International demand underscores its operational value, but affordability concerns persist.

Ultimately, the F-35’s role in countering threats like China ensures its continued relevance, though reducing costs is imperative to sustain long-term viability.

Making the Best Out of the F-35’s High Price Tag

The F-35 Lightning II’s total lifecycle will cost over $2 trillion – an eye-watering sum that is even more than last year’s total of $1.7 trillion, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Inflation has increased to push that price tag upward. The program has become a cautionary tale of schedule slips and cost overruns, but the airplane is still needed.

The United States and its allies face new challenges and a host of adversarial countries that necessitate the F-35’s ability to foster peace through a strong approach to international security.

One of the problems with the F-35 is the high cost of sustaining and maintaining the jet fighter.

The F-35 is a flying computer, and it has become a finicky bird that is difficult to keep in the air. Sustainability costs run around $1.6 trillion – a 44 percent increase since 2018.

Then, there is the acquisition cost of buying the airplane from Lockheed Martin. That number has risen to $442 billion total in development and procurement.

Considering all of that, is the F-35 worth all that money?

Program Officers Say They Are Cutting Costs

The F-35 Joint Program Office believes it is doing everything it can to reduce costs. The office claims flight per hour has been reduced from $86,800 to $33,600 in 2012 dollars.

And to the F-35’s credit, the Joint Program Office said it has ensured that the annual cost to keep the Lightning II in the air has gone down for all the service branches that fly it. It takes about $7 million per jet to allow the F-35 to operate annually.

That number appreciates considerably when considering the number of flying hours necessary for pilots to be proficient in the Joint Strike Fighter. The GAO believes the F-35 will fly at least 300,000 hours per year.

Could It Fly For 60 More Years?

The Pentagon claims the F-35 can stay in the air until 2088. That is likely optimistic, considering the need for new fighters to replace the old in the coming decades. I don’t see the F-35 taking to the skies for that long. Perhaps some countries could wait 50 years to replace the F-35, but the United States will have to keep evolving to the next generation of fighters to keep up with China and Russia.

So, is the F-35 worth it? The FY25 Pentagon budget request is around $850 billion. This year’s total spending deficit for the entire federal government is $1.9 trillion. Federal outlays are $6.5 trillion or 23.1 percent of Gross Domestic Product. However, this presidential election year, neither former President Donald Trump nor Vice President Kamala Harris are focusing on government spending issues.

F-35 Critics Are Drowned Out By Political Noise

It seems that accounting bureaucrats, some congressional lawmakers, and various defense spending watchdog groups are only noticing the F-35’s costs. Those who complain about the stealth Lightning II are not that loud—their voices are drowned out by the culture war and other domestic issues on the campaign trail.

It seems that the F-35 has survived its most fervent critics and has weathered the worst of the storm.

Foreign Militaries Love It

Meanwhile, the airplane has been a hit in the overseas market. Lockheed Martin continues to field orders. Foreign militaries, however, may need to follow the United States and fly the F-35 less to cut costs. They will also need to budget for spare parts and maintenance.

The F-35 has many attributes. Its electronic warfare capabilities are stellar. It could someday team with unmanned “Loyal Wingmen.” It can launch or drop some of the most advanced weapons in the world. The sensors on board are equally compelling.

F-35 Is Here to Stay

It is just that gargantuan price tag that sticks out. The amount of money involved is shocking. Look for more budget-minded legislators to call for placing limits on the number of hours flown by the F-35. That is the easiest way to trim costs.

The problem is that the F-35 may have to go head-to-head with China’s best fighters in a conflict in the Indo-Pacific someday, so American pilots must use those precious flight hours to improve their skills.

The F-35 is here to stay; overall, that is probably a good thing. The program was always ambitious and became notorious for being expensive.

The best thing to do is to look for cost savings in flight per hour to get that price tag down each year. That may mean more idle airplanes and fewer chances for the pilots to fly, but that is the only way the F-35 can trim its budget.

About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood

Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare, plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.