The F-35 Fighter Jet: High Costs and Hurdles for a Key US Aircraft Program

The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter stands as the Department of Defense’s most ambitious weapons undertaking, designed to be crucial for meeting current and future U.S. national security objectives. However, this sophisticated aircraft program has been significantly impacted by escalating costs and delays, leading to projections of an immense price tag exceeding $2 trillion over several decades.

Despite these challenges, the fighter jet reached a notable milestone in March: “full-rate production.” This phase typically signifies that development has achieved a performance and reliability level acceptable for accelerating manufacturing. While F-35s have been produced at or near full rate for several years already, the branches of the U.S. military that operate the aircraft—the Air Force, Marines, and Navy—are simultaneously planning to decrease its usage. What is driving these seemingly conflicting developments for this important us new aircraft fighter? Recent reports highlight critical challenges related to the F-35’s modernization efforts, rising expenses, and projected decline in operational hours.

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft landing at sunset

Production Issues and Modernization Delays Escalate F-35 Costs

Technology is constantly evolving, a reality that affects even the most advanced weapon systems like the F-35. The Department of Defense is engaged in a substantial $16.5 billion modernization initiative aimed at equipping the F-35 with enhanced capabilities through both hardware and software updates. These planned improvements include significant radar enhancements, new weapons integration, and advanced aircraft collision avoidance technology.

Crucially, some of these anticipated capabilities rely on technological updates that were originally scheduled for delivery in July of the previous year. Unfortunately, these updates have encountered delays primarily due to persistent software stability issues within the program.

Concurrently, around May of last year, the F-35 program office was in the preliminary planning stages for modernizing the fighter jet’s engine and thermal management system. This specific effort is deemed essential to supply the F-35 with the necessary additional power and to prevent critical systems, such as the radar, from overheating during operation.

However, as these engine modernization plans began to take shape, concerns were raised in previous reporting that the military had not yet fully defined the specific power and cooling requirements needed for the engine and related systems to adequately support future capabilities. Furthermore, the Department of Defense had not thoroughly assessed the potential costs and some of the inherent technical risks associated with these new engine development efforts. These examples underscore how delays in modernization initiatives contribute significantly to increased overall costs for the F-35 program.

Rising Operating Costs Despite Plans for Reduced Use

Across the branches of the U.S. military, there are currently approximately 630 F-35 aircraft in service, with plans to acquire about 1,800 additional units in the coming years. The Air Force, Marines, and Navy each operate specialized versions of the F-35 tailored to their specific operational needs.

Projections for sustaining the F-35 fleet have continued to climb substantially. What was estimated at $1.1 trillion in 2018 had risen to $1.58 trillion just five years later, marking a 44% increase. This notable surge in projected sustainment costs is partly attributable to the extension of the aircraft’s service life, pushed from 2077 in 2018 out to 2088 in 2023.

This cost increase has occurred despite the Department of Defense undertaking efforts to mitigate sustainment expenses. Over the past decade, the DOD has implemented various cost-saving measures and continues to explore new avenues to reduce expenditures. For instance, actions have been taken to enhance the reliability and maintainability of components on the aircraft. The F-35 program estimates that these initiatives have cumulatively reduced sustainment costs by roughly $84 billion over the entire projected lifetime of the program.

Additionally, over the last couple of years, both the Air Force and the Navy have reduced their projected annual flying hours for the F-35 by 19% and a significant 45%, respectively. Partly as a consequence of this planned reduction in flight time, the services are now projecting that they will meet most of their established affordability targets. These targets represent the amount of money they forecast being able to allocate per aircraft per year for operational costs.

Efforts like modernizing the F-35’s engine are strategically intended to increase the longevity of key components and, in turn, reduce the costs associated with more frequent maintenance that would be necessary if the engine was not upgraded. However, as previously discussed, there remain several areas where these modernization efforts could be improved to potentially lower costs in the present.

Beyond the financial aspects, recent findings indicate that F-35 repair times have been notably slow, resulting in a growing backlog of components awaiting repair. This situation directly impacts the availability of the jets for critical missions when they are needed.

Big Picture

The F-35 is envisioned to provide a crucial advantage for U.S. military defense capabilities and represents a significant component of future airpower strategies. Consequently, it is paramount that the F-35 program delivers aircraft that are both affordable to operate and readily available for the military whenever required for operational duties.