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The F-35 is 3 planes in one platform and cost something like 70 billion $ to design.
by panick21_ 1y ago
The F-35 is 3 planes in one platform and cost something like 70 billion $ to design.
- ChrisMarshallNY 1y agoI’ve heard much higher figures; approaching 1 trillion dollars.
- KylerAce 1y agoThat's the estimated total cost of the joint strike fighter program including research, acquisition, and maintenance, up to its current intended retirement in the 2060s
- ChrisMarshallNY 1y agoFair point, but we should look at the length of time from napkin sketch to first delivery of final product; not just the design. I understand that the manufacturing and testing was a nightmare, with the need to redesign multiple subsystems.
- bigyabai 1y agoIf the estimated unit cost of ~90-110 million dollars is right, I'd argue it's a pretty big success. The absolute cheapest 4th generation fighter would cost you an order of 20-30 million dollars to import brand-new, whereas 4.5th generation platforms like the Rafale commonly fetch 100m+ a unit to import. As far as credible 5th generation strike fighters go, that's a pretty cheap per-squadron price tag. My bigger gripe is with the "Big Bomb Diplomacy" tactics that require such a platform, but we'd end up wanting one either way if a fight with China is in the cards.
- geoduck14 1y agoTo quote a military friend of mine: "Why build 1 plane when you can build 3 planes for the cost of... does math... 3x!"
- panick21_ 1y agoMy fear would be that with current US acquisition, it would have been 3x 50 billion instead.
- ranger_danger 1y ago"First rule of government spending... why build one, when you can have two, for twice the price!" -Contact, 1997
- wkat4242 1y agoThat was never the intention of course. But I guess there are still benefits of scale like maintenance parts, training etc.
- jleyank 1y agoHope it's far better than the F-111, another tri-service bird. The F-4 turned out ok, but it wasn't designed tri-service as I recall.