Wikipedia (which has sources) "February 2011, the Pentagon put a price of $207.6 million on each of the 32 aircraft to be acquired in FY2012, rising to $304.16 million (a total acquisition cost of $9.7 billion for 32 aircraft) if its share of research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) spending is included.[36][37]"

so the first ones were $304m each, so it was like buying 1/3 scale solid gold F-35s!

(if its the "heaviest" variant which isn't really a good way to estimate costs, the average weight would be better)

The lightest variant weighs 29,300 lbs, and it's noted most of the additional weight in the F-35s comes from internal weapons stored. A golden one of those comes in at $834,932,800 with todays gold at $1,781/ounce.

Hopefully we do buy around 1,700 of them and they're not horrible.

The total cost is "projected" at $1.7 trillion for the US alone, but I've seen things that show maintenance costs for the F-35 are much higher than anticipated.


I do wonder why we don't get offers from Lockheed like they sent to Japan when they were thinking of their "5th gen fighter" to make a F-22 with upgraded avionics for air superiority?

Because seems like the F-35 is really just the new A-10 (doesn't maneuver like a air superiority fighter)

quote:

Originally posted by 18DAI:
IIRC, it was GEN. John Boyd, who lamented in the mid to late 70s, that if the USAF did not eliminate the corruption in the developement and aquisition process, they would eventually use their entire budget to procure one plane. And have to take turns flying it.

He must have been posthumously promoted, he was buried as a colonel.