F-35 Lightning program’s cost keeps rocketing — to over $1.5 trillion

The F-35 Lightning II is already the world’s most expensive weapons program. And it’s hardly leveling off. According to a government watchdog, projected costs for sustaining the jet fighter are rising even as the military cuts the number of available flight hours.

The Defense Department projects that operation and maintenance costs through 2088 for the Lockheed Martin-built F-35 will be $1.58 trillion, a 44% increase from the 2018 estimates, the Government Accountability Office said Monday.

“Yet (the Pentagon) plans to fly the F-35 less than originally estimated, partly because of reliability issues with the aircraft,” the GAO said in its study. “The F-35’s ability to perform its mission has also trended downward over the past five years.”

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The Defense Department has about 630 F-35 aircraft on the books and plans to buy 2,500 total by the mid-2040s. The Lightning II is expected to be operational into the 2080s and will represent the bulk of the crewed tactical aircraft for the military.

The Defense Department estimates that the Air Force will pay $6.6 million annually to operate and sustain each F-35, a figure well above the original $4.1 million target. While the Pentagon says it wants to reduce outlays, “these efforts are not likely to fundamentally change the estimated costs to operate the aircraft,” the GAO said in its report.

The military services are cutting the number of F-35 flight hours each year to make progress toward meeting their affordability targets, the GAO analysts said.

Meanwhile, the F-35s aren’t meeting most of their goals for availability, reliability and maintainability.

“We have reported on the performance of the F-35 fleet, especially aircraft availability, across several GAO reports,” the watchdog group said.

The GAO said it has made 40 recommendations since 2014 about the F-35 program. While the Defense Department has concurred with many of them, about 70% of their suggestions have yet to be implemented, the GAO said.