The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter: Failure is not a (financial) option

by Alex Hollings · November 8, 2016

At a projected lifetime price tag of $1.45 trillion dollars, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has secured its place as the most expensive weapons system in the history of mankind. It’s easy to look at a price tag like $1.45 trillion and recognize it as a big number, but without context, it can be difficult to truly grasp just how big it is. After all, when discussing significant expenditures like defense, large numbers in the billions and even trillions can be tossed about with some regularity. So just how expensive is the F-35? Let’s compare it to some other government projects for clarity.

NASA’s annual budget is $18.4 billion. Mars rovers, satellites, telescopes, and the entire administrative infrastructure of our nation’s space program is all encompassed in that $18.4 billion figure. The overall price tag on the F-35 (a single aircraft platform) is a whopping 76 times our nation’s annual expenditures on space science.

About Alex Hollings

Alex Hollings writes on a breadth of subjects ranging from fitness to foreign policy, all presented through the lens of his experiences as a U.S. Marine, athlete and scholar. A football player, rugby player and fighter, Hollings has spent the better part of his adult life competing in some of the most physically demanding sports on the planet. Hollings possesses a master's degree in communications from Southern New Hampshire University, as well as a bachelor's degree in Corporate and Organizational Communications from Framingham State University.

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Ace
I remember a long discussion a, uh, let's say "a friend of mine" had with then SecDef Gates and his crew. The year was 2008, and the big showdown over killing the F-22 pipeline was on. SecDef made a lot of hay over canceling F-22 production to "cut costs" and hang our hats on the F-35. My "friend" asked "Mr. Secretary, how much do you expect the F-35 to cost?" The answer was $336B, but that our allies would help foot the bill. Friend: "Mr. Secretary, the F-22 program is only $56B (then-dollars), and each one you produce is cheaper than the one before. But whoever told you the F-35 would cost less than $400B is lying to you." Gates then asked just how expensive this person expected the F-35 to be. Friend: "My analysis is that it will be 10 to 15 times as expensive as the F-22 program (uproar of laughter from his guys at that) for one third as many as you expect to buy, and the allies won't go for that (even more snickering from the staff). But we could make an export-version F-22 (without the fancy avionics and stealth) that looks the part but isn't as capable as ours, and continue spiral development of most of the F-35's capabilities on the F-22 airframe. Kind of like the Strike Eagle and the Eagle." There was immediate and firm promising that under no circumstances would the F-35 cost more per copy than the F-22 and that the F-22 needed to be killed to save money for the F-35 because, you know, the F-35 is awesome. The conversation went on, but soon afterwards, news of the F-35's performance and our allies' discomfort started to make the news. One of Gates's staff ran into my friend years later and said "no one could believe all that at the time, but it was true, and now no one can believe the monster this F-35 thing has become! We can't afford it but we have to!" The moral to the story is the USAF leadership wanted the F-22 but was compelled to go with the F-35--and as much as I hate to say it, that decision was all Secretary Gates going broke saving money.
mark m
Wholeheartedly agree there. If this was a one situation, I might want to see it to fruition. But there's a consistent pattern of waste and abuse, a fair amount coming from the DOD. The bottom line is we can't fund every dream project no matter how sexy tactical it is. At some point either we get delivery or we move on
Alex Hollings
Hi Mark - I can absolutely appreciate your sentiment. I'm honestly not sure what the right course of action is - one thing is for certain though, we need to learn from mistakes like these instead of repeating them.
mark m
I understand your point, and to a degree I agree. But where do we draw the line between salvaging our investment and cutting our losses? At what point do we stop throwing fistfuls of cash into a black hole? I risk my life for $24k a year, because 18.5% is taken off the top for these kinds of expenditures. Its frustrating. That's my money they're wasting, and yours. Next time you worry about how a certain bill will be paid, be comforted knowing at some point in our children's future, Star Wars might protect us.
Boom Stick
On the bright side, if you work for Lockheed or own their stock, things are bright!