The Pentagon said Monday that the price of F-35 jets is falling as production continues, just a week after President-elect Trump tweeted about their “out of control” costs.
The F-35 Joint Program Office announced the cost per jet for the latest production contract with Lockheed Martin. The contract includes 57 aircraft: 34 for the U.S. and 23 for international partners, which will start to be delivered in the first quarter of 2017.
“F-35 unit recurring flyaway (URF) costs are going down with each successive lot of aircraft. Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney have track records for delivering the airframe and engine below U.S. government cost estimates,” the release from the program office said.
The F-35A Air Force variant, which is also used by international partners, costs $102.1 million per jet in the most recent production contract, down 5.5 percent from the $108 million per jet in the prior contract.
The F-35B, the variant used by the Marine Corps that can take off vertically, will cost $131.6 million, down from $134 million per jet in the previous contract.
The price of the Navy’s F-35C variant, which can take off and land from a carrier flight deck, is $132.2 million, up from $129 million in the previous contract because the Navy bought fewer planes.
Prices are expected to continue dropping. An F-35A purchased in 2019 and delivered in 2020 is expected to cost between $80-85 million per plane, while the Navy and Marine Corps variants are expected to cost about $96 million and $110 million respectively.
