Life-Cycle Cost of F-35 Fleet Could Reach $126 Billion
The cost of F-35s first became an issue in July 2010 when the government announced it would purchase 65 of the aircraft for a total of $16 billion including maintenance costs. After highly critical reports from the Parliamentary Budget Officer in 2011, and the Auditor General in 2012 the current anticipated total cost is now at $45.69 billion.
This report looks at the fact that even the $45.69 billion figure is low because is it based on CF-18’s and not F-35s, the figure also ignores other associated actual costs and the “cost risks and uncertainty” related to the fleet. This means that the fleet of F-35s could cost $126 billion, $81 billion higher than what is being presently acknowledged by the government.
