The F-35 Lightning II fighter jet upgrade program is steadily getting more expensive and already costs nearly $1.4 billion instead of $712 million

The cost overruns on the onboard computer upgrades for the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft continue to grow. As a result, the first aircraft will be handed over to the customer not in mid-summer 2023, but a little later. But Lockheed Martin is confident of a 2023 delivery.

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In 2018, Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Department of Defense awarded a $712 million contract to upgrade the computer in the F-35. Even then there were fears that the real cost would be higher, and they were justified.

Cost overruns on the project have already almost doubled the cost of the contract. The modernization program, including an additional $236 million, will cost $680 million more than it was expected initially. Thus, the total cost of the contract is almost $1.4 billion.

According to the terms of the deal, all expenses will be paid by American taxpayers and allied countries that take part in development of the fifth generation fighter. Another problem is the lag in the delivery schedule. This also negatively affects the financing of the project.

It is also worth mentioning that the cost overrun for upgrades is negligible compared to the total cost of the F-35 program, which is already $412 billion. Lockheed Martin won the Lightning II production contract in 2001. At the time, the program was estimated at $223 billion. As you can see, the cost over 20 years has increased by almost 85%. And in the last year, the project has risen by $14 billion.

The increase in costs slightly overshadows a positive year for the F-35 Lightning II. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the fifth-generation fighter jets began to be in high demand. The list of recent foreign customers included Greece, Germany, Finland and Switzerland. A total of 875 fighters have been delivered, and the total F-35 Lightning II fleet could potentially increase to 3,300 units.

Source: Bloomberg

Images: Lockheed Martin, National Defense Magazine, Defense News