F-35 sinnsykt dyr å operere - Defense News

 

Lockheed, Pentagon claim they’re reining in F-35 sustainment costs

 

By Stephen Losey

 Sep 1, 07:27 PM

U.S. Air Force and South Korean Air Force F-35A fighters fly over the Asian nation on July 12, 2022. The jet's manufacturer and the Pentagon say sustainment costs are dropping. (Senior Airman Trevor Gordnier/U.S. Air Force)

WASHINGTON — After years of criticism over sustainment costs of the F-35 fighter, Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon on Wednesday said they are seeing progress in driving down the bill, and they believe the trend will continue.

Lockheed and the F-35 Joint Program Office did not release the annual cost per tail in 2021 for the jet. But in a statement, JPO spokesman Chief Petty Officer Matthew Olay said the amount fell from numbers recorded in 2020.

According to a Government Accountability Office report, it cost the Air Force in 2020 about $7.8 million to fly one of its F-35As. That was nearly double the service’s $4.1 million goal.

One of the Navy’s F-35Cs, the aircraft carrier variant, cost $9.9 million to fly in 2020 — more than the $7.5 million goal. For a single Marine Corps F-35B, the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing variant, the cost came to $9.1 million that year; and for one F-35C, the bill came to $7.9 million. The Corps’ cost goals for both variants are $6.8 million each.