Will anybody be able to afford the F-35?

Holy rising costs and delays:

The cost of Lockheed Martin's Joint Strike Fighter, already the most expensive weapons program ever, is projected to increase as much as $38 billion, congressional auditors said yesterday.

That would bring the price of 2,458 F-35s to $337 billion, 45 percent more than estimated when the program began in October 2001 [that's about 140 million each! - MC]].

"Midway through development, the program is over cost and behind schedule," Michael J. Sullivan, director of acquisition and sourcing management for the Government Accountability Office, told two panels of the House Armed Services Committee that oversee military spending.

The 12-year development of the fighter jet is entering its most challenging phase, including test flights, completing the software, finishing design of the three F-35 models and refining manufacturing processes at Lockheed and its subcontractors.

Sullivan said the Pentagon has identified billions of dollars in unfunded requirements, continued delays and "substantial" production inefficiency by Lockheed and engine-maker Pratt & Whitney that will increase costs.

At $337 billion, the Joint Strike Fighter's price would be more than twice that of the Pentagon's second-most expensive weapons program, the $160 billion Future Combat System...

Then there's this:

The cost of buying and operating a new fleet of jet fighters for the U.S. military is nearing $1 trillion, according to a congressional audit that found the program dogged by delays, manufacturing inefficiencies and price increases...

The Aussies are worried:

THE RAAF could be forced to drastically rethink the timetable and strategy for acquiring up to 100 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in the wake of a US government report, which points to lengthy development delays and cost blowouts in the multi-billion-dollar project.

A US General Accounting Office report released yesterday found that the official program cost of the F-35 could be understated by up to $US38 billion ($41billion) and that the development schedule is likely to slip from 12 to 27 months...

The RAAF planned to receive its first Joint Strike Fighters from 2013-14, with the first squadron operational from 2015-16.

But the GAO report throws further doubt on the RAAF's timetable and highlights the potential capability gap in Australia's air-combat force beyond the retirement of the F-111s.

The F-35s are planned to replace the F-111s, due to retire from 2010 [this link also has links to RAAF info on Super Hornets and JSF], and are destined to become Australia's frontline combat aircraft [more on RAAF F-111s here].

The possibility of a serious delay throws the spotlight on the controversial $6.5 billion F-18 Super Hornet purchase decided by the Howard government last year [but there's controversy about the purchase--maybe it will be quelled now; and note the Aussie Chief of the Defence Force virtually taking on his defence minister]. Some analysts say the Super Hornets could form the mainstay of the RAAF's combat force at least until 2017.

Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon is focusing on Australia's future air-combat needs and yesterday expressed concern about the status of the Joint Strike Fighter project.

"Nobody really knows what on-time is. It was 2013 originally. Now its 2015," he told The Australian.

"After today's report, nobody really knows the answer to that question. It could be 2020 for all I know [emphasis added]."

The Rudd Government is expected to make a final decision to buy the fifth-generation fighter next year, having already invested $300 million in the development of the F-35.

The purchase of up to 100 F-35 aircraft at an estimated cost of $16 billion would be Australia's largest defence purchase.

The RAAF has estimated the fly-away cost of each plane at about $80 million, but this figure could climb substantially before production aircraft are delivered...

Posts on F-35 and Canada here and here.