| Publication |
2013.
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| Summary/Abstract |
There is a good reason why the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is so often
described as the "arms deal of the century." In a report published on the last
day of 2010, the Pentagon estimated lifetime operating and sustainment
costs for the US F-35 fleet-then projected at 2,443 units, not counting
the prototypes-at US$1.45 trillion.1
Cost analyses of this type are always
much-debated: How many units will be sold in total? How does one define "lifetime"? How reliable will the system be once it enters service? What
will be the nature of its deployment? And so on. Beyond dispute is that the
F-35 constitutes one of the largest, if not the largest, weapons programs in
modern history.
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