Despite the high cost per aircraft, US allies and partners continue to choose the F-35 Lightning II due to its unparalleled capabilities.
The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin came to a final agreement about the purchase of approximately 300 F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jets.
After negotiations that spanned years, the F-35 Joint Program Office and Lockheed Martin agreed to a final price of nearly $25 billion for the next stealth aircraft.
Contract Negotiations
On Monday, the Pentagon announced a contract modification, worth $12.5 billion, for the production and delivery of Lockheed Martin’s Lot 19 F-35 aircraft. Coupled with the previous contract, worth $11.8 billion, for Lot 18, the combined cost for the next 296 F-35s is $24.29 billion.
“The F-35 Lot 18-19 contract represents continued confidence in the most affordable and capable fighter aircraft in production today,” Chauncey McIntosh, vice president and general manager of the F-35 Lightning II program at Lockheed Martin, said in a company press release. “We are proud to support our customers and further solidify the F-35’s role in enabling peace through strength.”
Lockheed Martin’s Lot 18 and Lot 19 will produce all three variants of the aircraft.
The finalized contract with Lockheed Martin follows a contract with Pratt & Whitney for the engines of the Lot 18 aircraft. In August, the Department of Defense awarded Pratt & Whitney a contract worth $2.8 billion for the production of 141 F135 engines destined for the Lot 18 aircraft. In addition to the engines, Pratt & Whitney will supply spares and support for the Lot 18 batch of stealth fighter jets.
The overall cost of the F-35 program is estimated at more than $2 trillion.
Let’s Talk About Numbers
Now that the negotiations dust has settled down, the final cost for the 296 aircraft is estimated at $24.29 billion, evenly split between Lot 18 and Lot 19. Moreover, the average cost per aircraft is $82.4 million. This number, however, can be misleading as some versions of the F-35 Lightning II are more expensive than others.
For example, in the previous lots (Lot 15, Lot 16, and Lot 17), the average cost for the conventional version of the stealth fighter jet, the F-35A, was $82.5 million. However, the average cost for the carrier-based iteration, the F-35C, came at $102.1 million per aircraft. Finally, the average cost for the Short Take-off, Vertical Landing (STOVL) version, the F-35B, was $109 million per platform.
Similarly, the cost per aircraft in Lot 18 and Lot 19 will fluctuate depending on the type of stealth fighter jet. The US Air Force and most international customers (19 countries from around the world have ordered the F-35) will have to pay the lowest price as the F-35A is the most popular in orders, with approximately 2,687 orders for the type to date.
Despite the high cost per aircraft, the US military and international allies and partners continue to choose the F-35 Lightning II for their fleets due to the stealth aircraft’s hitherto unparalleled capabilities not only in air-to-air combat or strike missions, but also as a connecting point between a wide range of friendly assets. Using its powerful sensors and stealth capabilities, the F-35 can detect and track enemy assets on the battlefield and guide friendly air, ground, and naval assets toward the enemy. It is this ability that has led people to nickname the F-35 “the Quarterback of the skies.”
About the Author: Stavros Atlamazoglou
Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations and a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ). He holds a BA from the Johns Hopkins University and an MA from the Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.
Image: DVIDS.
