Buyer’s Remorse: How Much Has the F-22 Really Cost?

The 196th and last F-22 Raptor has rolled out ofLockheed Martin ’s factoryin Marietta , Georgia . That mean yesterday mark off an remnant tomore than 14 years of productionfor what ’s wide study the most fearsome jet paladin in story . And also one of the costliest .

So what ’s the cost ? As niggling as $ 137 million per jet and as much as $ 678 million , depending on how and what you count . The matter is , the best way of calculating the F-22′s cost may be the most abstractionist . But any elbow room you crackle the numbers , the world ’s best dogfighter has also beenone of the most expensiveoperational warplanes ever .

Over the eld , the Raptor ’s cost has been the theme of acute debate in the Pentagon , the White House , Congress and the media . But counsellor and critics tend to cite unlike figures to serve their various agendas . Fans of the twin - engine hero commonly refer to the “ flyaway cost ” – that is , how much Lockheed charge the government to pick together each Raptor after all maturation has been paid for . In other words , just twist spending .

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By that reckoning , each of the last 60 F-22s set up the taxpayer back$137 million , only slightly more than the or so $ 110 million apiece Americans pay for a novel F-35 Joint Strike Fighter – a plane specifically design to be “ affordable,”whatever that mean . ( All form are in more or less constant dollar . )

Haters refer “ unit cost , ” which include development and product spending divided by the telephone number of jets built . F-22 production and growing , includingcurrently okay upgrades , sum up $ 74 billion , resulting in a unit of measurement price of $ 377 million .

And just because the last Raptor left the Marietta manufacturing plant does n’t entail the unit price is fixed at $ 377 million . If the Air Force ever gets around to adding a long - planned - for datalink , the whole cost could increase slightly . Tweaks to prevent future groundings – likethose that occurredthis twelvemonth – would also crowd the unit of measurement cost up .

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By contrast , the F-35′s unit cost should stabilize ataround $ 157 million , owing to a massive 2,443 - plane production run . That ’s assume the Joint Strike Fighter does n’t get scrub or curtailed following Apocalypse ofnew invention defect .

There ’s a third mode to calculate the F-22′s burden on the taxpayer . “ Lifecycle cost ” adds up the price of fuel , spare parts and maintenance during the jet ’s fancy 40 - year lifespan . The Government Accountability Office estimates it will cost $ 59 billion to doctor and wing the F-22s until they retire . If you tally whole cost and per - plane lifecycle cost , you get the total amount the United States expend to design , produce and operate a single Raptor : a whopping $ 678 million .

F-35 lifecycle plus unit cost , assuming nothing else goes wrong?$469 million , agree to Air Force physique quote by the GAO .

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The fourth and concluding approaching to estimate the Raptor ’s price contract into story its potency . It ’s a trickier measure . But it might be the beneficial one to debate . It asks : How much value does the U.S. government get from its investment in F-22s ?

While it ’s undetectable in isolated flyaway , unit and lifecycle price figures , economic value is inarguably important . A loud used car that never leave the driveway is , in a real sense , more expensive than a car you devote sticker Leontyne Price for and beat back every day .

So deal this : since the F-22 come in service in 2005 , every other operational warplane in the U.S. arsenal has seen action at law in Iraq , Afghanistan , Libya or other struggle zona . But the petite fleet of pricey F-22s , optimise for ultra - uncommon dogfight missions , miss key upgrades and oft grounded , hasn’t flown a undivided combat sortie .

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