USAF Agrees That The F-35 Is Expensive

The Strategy Page ^ | 2/1/2011 | The Strategy Page

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

After months of contentious of disagreement, the U.S. Air Force is coming around to agreeing with U.S. Navy claims that the F-35 will cost much more to maintain, rather than (as the F-35 promoters assert) less. It was a year ago that the U.S. Navy, after nervously watching as the manufacturing costs of the new F-35C and F-35B carrier aircraft increase, concluded that these aircraft would also be a lot more expensive to maintain. It comes down to this. Currently, it costs the navy, on average, $19,000 an hour to operate its AV-8 vertical takeoff or F-18C fighter aircraft. The navy calculated that it would cost 63 percent more to operate the F-35C (which will replace the F-18C) and the F-35B (which will replace the AV-8). These costs include buying the aircraft, training and maintaining the pilots, the aircraft and purchasing expendable items (fuel, spare parts, munitions.) The navy concluded that maintenance would cost alone would be about a third more

[freedumb2003]

This just in!

USAF finds out water is wet! (with the help of the Navy, which is now moving to the EA/18 platform)

[tet68]

Maintence free air craft are a pipe dream.
If you want the best, you pay for the best,
then you don’t have to make excuses because
you didn’t HAVE the best.

[Tea Party Reveler]

That’s progress! Now, did they ever find out what happened to Major Jill Meztger and do we still have to pay for her absence, AWOL, higher base payments, medivac flight time, hospitalization, grand jury appearence, fraudlent Social security claim, disability pay, investigation, FBI agent deployed costs, etc?

Just askin’!

Google = Major Jill Metzger

[USNBandit]

I don’t see including cost of training pilots or maintenance personnel as a smart idea. Not because they shouldn’t count, but because you would have to make very important assumptions about retention rates. The only thing predictable about retention rates is that the services will guess wrong on them every time. Give me a fuel, consumables, parts whole life cost for x number of hours. Something you can chew on a while.

[higgmeister]

Doesn't every weapons system with appropriate new bells and whistles cost more than the previous? Why would anyone even want to belabor the point?

The naysayers want us to roll over and play dead anyway. Let's stop trying to provide everyone $60,000 aspirins, $500,000 primary schooling and the like, so we can continue providing our Constitutionally mandated common defense.

[USNBandit]

with the help of the Navy, which is now moving to the EA/18 platform

The Super Hornet program is a reverse example of the F-22 and probable costs of the F-35. With those two programs, as planned purchases have been cut, per aircraft costs have soared.

With the Super Hornet program, the addition of a dozen 4 plane squadrons drove down the per unit cost to the point where Super Hornets are now costing about $50-55 million a piece. Then the Aussies got some, then the Navy added some more.

F-35 per unit costs will continue to climb as more aircraft get cut from the buy.

[NeverForgetBataan]

No worries.

Some Two Star in the pentagon will just put on the Air Force MasterCard and the private sector tax payer will get the bill.

In the meantime Mr.Two Star will be busy planning his next vacation and which Ivy League college to send the kids to.

[Dundee]

We bought 24 Super Hornets to replace the F-111. The sensible thing is that half of the Super Hornets are wired to become Growlers which gives the RAAF a huge capability boost.

In return we share some EW technology with the US that we’ve been working on.

[Yo-Yo]

With the Super Hornet program, the addition of a dozen 4 plane squadrons drove down the per unit cost to the point where Super Hornets are now costing about $50-55 million a piece. Then the Aussies got some, then the Navy added some more.

Unit flyaway costs didn't change appreciably with an Aussie order of 24 aircraft. The Navy put a lot of money into developing the Super Hornet after the A-12 disaster, and if those developments costs are included, then yes, total cost per aircraft goes down with each additional purchase.

Same would be true if we bought more F-22s. Unit flyaway cost of the last couple of aircraft is about $150 million, but total program cost including development spread over 187 aircraft is about $380 million. That total cost would also go down with each additional aircraft purchased.