Here are some raw numbers about the costliest military program in U.S. history: The F-35 jet fighter. Three different versions of the plane are being developed, and a total of 2,457 copies are to be manufactured by 2035. (See our first set of F-35 facts here.)
.5 | Current number of “flying hours between failures” for the Marine Corps F-35 (a statistical mean) |
2.6 | Current number of “flying hours between failures” for the Air Force F-35 |
4 | Required number of “flying hours between failures” for the Marine Corps F-35 |
6 | Required number of “flying hours between failures” for the Air Force F-35 |
73 | Percentage increase in cost of F-35 engine since development began in 2002 |
365 | Number of planes the Pentagon says it will build by 2017 |
1,591 | Number of planes the Pentagon said ten years ago that it would build by 2017 |
$22,500 | Cost to fly the F-16 – which the F-35 is replacing – for one hour |
$35,200 | Cost to fly the F-35 for one hour (if current Air Force targets are met) |
$672 million | Taxpayer’s share of a billion dollars in cost overruns on early F-35 production contracts |
Source:“Joint Strike Fighter,” Government Accountability Office, June 2012, GAO-12-437