The military is paying for both software and hardware. Recent dod programs have had outrageous unit costs because of this. There will probably only be 1-2k F-35

The military is paying for both software and hardware. Recent dod programs have had outrageous unit costs because of this. There will probably only be 1-2k F-35s ever produced, but the DoD had to pay for sensor fusion software, avionics, new UI, targeting software, and weapons integration software. All of which must be guaranteed to work in any environment for the next 30 years. Same thing happens with modern missiles.