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DoD: F-35 costs rise at least 50 percent

The F-35 Lightning II strike fighter program will breach the Nunn-McCurdy limits with a cost growth of more than 50 percent from the original 2001 program baseline, said a top Pentagon program evaluator.

Christine Fox, director of the Defense Department’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office, told lawmakers Thursday that the formal declaration of the breach will occur April 1.

She said the Pentagon has known of this since October. That’s one month earlier than had previously been reported.

The Defense Department’s latest estimates predict that each of the jets slated to be purchased will carry a price tag of between $80 million and $95 million in 2002 dollars. That's $95 million and $113 million in 2009 dollars, respectively.

In 2001, the Defense Department pegged the cost per Joint Strike Fighter at $50.2 million apiece for 2,852 jets. The Pentagon updated that estimate to $69.2 million in 2007 for a planned order of 2,443 jets.

The Pentagon expects to have a final estimate on the plane’s cost ready in early June, when it completes the Nunn-McCurdy re-certification package, Fox told the Senate Armed Services committee during a hearing.

Fox compared the F-35 program to earlier Pentagon aircraft that ultimately produced planes that are “valuable to DoD,” such as the C-17 and the F-22. She noted that F-22 “repeatedly failed to meet key performance, schedule and cost goals throughout its development program,” yet Lockheed Martin was ultimately able to produce “a capable aircraft.”

Ashton Carter, defense undersecretary for acquisition, technology, and logistics, said at the hearing that the Initial Operational Capability dates for the U.S. Air Force and Navy F-35 have been shifted to 2016, a three- and two-year delay respectively. The Marine Corps date remains 2012, he said.

The Marine aircraft will use Block 2 software, whereas the Navy and Air Force jets will use the Block 3 version.

Carter said Air Force Secretary Michael Donley would inform Congress of the breach in several days.