The F35 will be cancelled before 500 planes are made (prediction by Pierre Sprey)

[mil-avia]

The Gripen requires three to five man-hours of maintenance per flight hour. That means, after an hour-long mission, 6-10 technicians require only 30 minutes to put the fighter back in the air.

In contrast, the Rafale is estimated to require 15 maintenance man-hours per flight hour; while the F-35 Lightening II requires 30-35 man-hours.

According to a Jane's study, the operating cost of the Gripen is $4,700 per hour. The Rafale is thrice as expensive, at $15,000 per hour.

 

[mil-avia]

USAF estimates F-35 will cost $32,000 per hour to operate

F-35 Cost Per Flying Hour: A Tale of Two Numbers

Another Installment of ... F-35 Cost Per Flying Hour

F-35A Cost Per Flying Hour Exceeds F-16 by 10%

F-35 Head: Flying Hours 10 Percent Higher than F-16

Analysis: Lower F-35 Operating Costs Should Be Taken with A Pinch of Salt

The F-35 O&S Cost Cover-up

F-35 operation and support costs eclipse the combined price tag of legacy fighters

F-35 maintenance costs could double over the lifetime of program, report says

Stealth Bomber: Evading Flak over Cost, Mission (B-2)

Each hour of B-2 stealth bomber flight necessitates 119 hours of maintenance

 

[mil-avia]

Strategically superfluous, unacceptably overpriced: The case against Canada's F-35A Lightning II acquisition

Canada's F-35 purchase is a costly mistake (full text)

F-35 might not meet performance standards of CF-18s, says US think tank

US think tank questions F-35 performance

What Fool Buys 4 F35 Jet Fighters, Pentagon Leaks Say Canada Is So Foolish?

By buying 'only' four F-35s, Canada will be locked into a larger deal

 

[mil-avia]

Battle rages over F-35 gun issue

Report: F-35 Inferior to Older US, Foreign Fighters (link to comments)

Federal Auditors Rate Reliability Of F-35 Engine 'Very Poor' (link to comments)

F-35 Will Not Reach Full Close-Air-Support Potential Until 2022 (link to comments)

 

[mil-avia]

Does the U.S. need 2,443 F-35 jets?

Dunford: Pentagon Reconsidering Planned Size of F-35 Fleet

F-35. US Govt threatens Turkey over Joint Fighter Project with SAAB???

 

[mil-avia]

U.S. Fighter Aircraft Pricing Themselves Out of the Export Market

 

[mil-avia]

Thunder without Lightning
The High Costs and Limited Benefits of the F-35 Program

 

[mil-avia]

Joint Strike Fighter: Accelerating Procurement before Completing Development Increases the Government's Financial Risk

 

[Peaceful Civilian]

I wish we get one squadron of F35b.

 

[Taygibay]

Bs Peaceful? Really? For Pakistan? OMG, why?

Read you later, Tay.

 

[mil-avia]

McCain: 'Have To' Reduce F-35 Total Buy

F-35 Too Expensive: US Air Force Might Buy 72 New F-15 or F-16 Fighter Jets

Trudeau orders new bidding for Canadian fighter jets

 

[mil-avia]

Budget Woes May Limit F-35 Purchases in 2016

Norway May Cut F-35 Order By 10 Aircraft

F-35 stealth fighter under intense attack

Trump: I'd dump the F-35

 

[mil-avia]

Pentagon: Here are all the problems with the F-35

Software delays

F-35B fuel tank redesign

Lightning protection

Flight control problems

Helmet display issues

Numerous components of the aircraft are unreliable

The Automatic Logistics Information System (ALIS)

 

[C130]

this wouldn't really be that bad.


all the tech and lessons learned can be put to use into a new design.

 

[Arron Bert]

F-35 will be sold as hot cakes in ME, Asian & African countries.