The Trillion$ F-35 Lightning II

The F-35 Lightning II, developed by Lockheed Martin, is a fifth-generation multi-role stealth fighter jet designed to excel in air superiority, ground attack, and reconnaissance missions. But what sets this Trillion Dollar titan apart from its predecessors? This fifth-generation multirole fighter jet program has been widely reported as the most expensive military weapons program in history, with estimated costs exceeding $1.7 trillion over its lifetime. The program has three variants: the F-35A (conventional takeoff and landing), F-35B (short takeoff and vertical landing), and F-35C (carrier-based). The F-35 Lightning II emerged from the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, consolidating various combat aircraft initiatives from the 1980s and 1990s. Its predecessors included the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) ASTOVL program, aimed at developing a replacement for the Harrier jump jet, and the Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) program, focused on advanced strike warfare concepts.

[@puffin51]

I can't decide what its most significant aspect is. Its all-missions readiness ratio of 30%? Its sortie rate, .3 a day? Perhaps its ground time to flying time ratio of about 23 to 1? Then there's its average flight time before encountering an "unscheduled maintenance event" of 2.8 hours, or the average cost of bringing any base up to its requirements over 4th gen, about 500 million dollars. Me, I'm particularly impressed by its combat radius, about 1000 km, and its air to surface weapon load if stealthy of 2, or its air to air load, also 2, unless it carries nothing else. But on the whole, I'd give it to your headline: it's the most expensive military program ever - about 440 billion USD so far.

[@AlphaWeapons]

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