When it was revealed in 2019 that Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter would cost $22 billion more than what was originally budgeted, defense analysts all over the world went into a frenzy. The reaction was quite expected. After all, it seems pretty hard to justify the fact that a single weapons system costs $428 billion to produce. If we were to add the lifetime operating cost, it becomes an even harder nut to crack. We will be looking at figures upwards of $1.2 trillion. This then leaves us with the big question: “Why are fighter jets so expensive?”
Of all the numerous factors that contribute to the huge cost of fighter jets, the complexity of the technology used and the size of orders are the most critical. Unlike other types of aircraft, military jets aren’t built just for flight. The kind of cutting edge technology that enables a fighter jet to fly and produce so much firepower at the same time cannot be produced at a lesser cost. Every fighter jet is made of state-of-the-art tech and state-of-the-art tech costs money.
Normally, aircraft producers are able to subsidize the cost of each unit of their products through mass production. But in the case of fighter jets, only governments get to order such weapons systems. And they do so in relatively small quantities. This makes it much difficult to spread the design and production costs among several fleet units.
However, design and production are only a considerably small chunk of the beef. Even after these governments procure the aircraft, they still have to fuel and maintain them. But there are also other factors—mostly bureaucratic and politically motivated—involved.
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Common Fighter Jet Prices
Year by year, military jet technology keeps improving. This continuous advancement also directly means greater costs, most especially of production. Except for few exceptions like the original F-22 which was way ahead of its time, fighter jet prices have been increasing over the years. And this is pretty reasonable. The better the tech, the more you have to pay for it.
Without a doubt, the US has by far the largest military budget in the world. It is therefore not surprising that most of the really expensive military jets are American fighter aircraft.
Let’s take a quick look at the cost of a single unit of some of the most expensive fighter jets you can find in the world at the moment.
F-22 Raptor – $152 million
The US Air Force fleet is definitely packed with some really pricey weapons systems. But of all its military toys currently parading the skies, the F-22 Raptor is definitely king. Equipped with 2 Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofans, the fighter’s afterburners and thrust vectoring nozzles fly at a top speed a little higher than 1,500 miles per hour. Also, this fifth-generation stealth fighter has such unparalleled maneuvering and supercruise capabilities that it’s hard to argue why it is that expensive.
F-35C Lightning II – $122.8 million
This fighter is the carrier version of the single-seat, single-engine multirole F-35 family. A fifth-generation combat aircraft, the F-35C Lightning II can execute both air-to-air and air-to-ground attacks. It is powered by one Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 turbofan and reaches a max speed of about 1,200 miles per hour or Mach 2.
Chengdu J-20 Black Eagle – $110 million
A close contender to the American F-22 Raptor, the Chinese Black Eagle is a twin-engine, multi-role, fifth-generation strike fighter aircraft. When it was launched in late 2017, the J-20 proved to be the pinnacle of China’s military aviation technology. It is built especially as a long-range strike fighter against ground targets. But it is also powerful enough to engage in air-to-air supremacy contests. The afterburners in its WS-15 turbofan engines allow it to reach a max speed of 1,350 miles per hour.
F-117 Nighthawk – $107.7 million
The F-117 Nighthawk was an outstanding product of America’s defense secrecy. Launched as the US Air Force’s first stealth aircraft, the Lockheed Martin’s creation served for at least 26 years. Though it was finally retired in 2008, the fighter jet is still worthy of mention because of its legacy as the world’s first stealth bombers. Its two General Electric F404-FID2 turbofans were able to power the aircraft to reach a max speed of over 700 miles per hour.
Eurofighter Typhoon – $105.7 million
Built originally as an air superiority fighter, the Eurofighter Typhoon was born out of a synergy between Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo. The fighter jet was designed for NATO countries and has since been purchased mostly by the UK, Germany, and Italy. A highly advanced swing-role combat aircraft, the Typhoon’s two Eurojet EJ200 afterburning turbofans drive it to a max speed of 1,550 miles per hour, well above Mach 2.
Other notable mentions are the French Dassault Rafale and Russia’s Su-35 Flanker-E which cost $93.6 million and $76.4 million respectively.
Buying Cost of Fighter Jets
More than any other thing, the main reason why buying a fighter jet will set you back so much in dollars is because almost every single one is a product of decades of research and breakthroughs in aviation technology. The avionics, radar, missile, propulsion, and aerodynamic systems you find on a combat aircraft are extremely expensive pieces of tech. Asides the raw technology, there are so many other factors fighter jet designers must take into consideration.
For example, the amount of detail that goes into maintaining the stealth capabilities of many combat aircraft is pretty amazing. While carrying so much firepower, their weight must also be kept at the barest minimum. In essence, the price of a single unit of combat aircraft is greatly influenced by the cost of the labor that goes into designing it. Many high-end fighters also make use of a certain grade of titanium that costs thousands of dollars per kg.
Even after designing the aircraft, the device still continues to ramp up costs. Production is another highly expensive procedure. Governments often procure weapons systems in batches. This means that they end up ordering certain numbers of units that are not economically optimal as regards research and development costs.
The economics of mass production sometimes allows 10 units and 20 units of the exact same product to cost the same in total. Unfortunately, government officials sometimes do not take this into account resulting in the high costs of single units.
Operating Costs of Fighter Jets
As early mentioned, covering the design and production costs of fighter jets is only the beginning. Just like other types of aircraft, the cost of operating and maintaining fighter jets through its service time is always at least twice the original buying costs. Fuel and maintenance are major factors that constitute large portions of a fighter jet’s operating costs.
Cost of Fuel
The cost of fuelling a combat aircraft is very high. The majority of fighter jets around today are supersonic devices. And supersonic flight demands huge sums in dollars to fuel—this is one of the reasons why the Concordes were retired.
An average F16 flying at about Mach 0.8 consumes approximately 2410kg (approximately 800 gallons) of JP8 (Jet Propellant 8) every hour. At the least expensive airport, JP8 is sold for at least $3.75 per gallon. When you run the numbers, you’re looking at about $3000 per flight hour. But these figures change drastically once the afterburner is in use. Air-to-air combat with afterburner on for close to 50% of the time can easily double these fuel costs.
Maintenance Costs
Combat aircraft are built to take on and offload so much firepower. If they are to remain in use over a long period of time, fighter jets must undergo maintenance frequently. The rest of a fighter jet’s operation cost is accounted for under maintenance. So, if we take the F16 as an example, we have about $2000-3000 per flight hour going into maintenance.
Insurance Cost
Unlike commercial aircraft, military aircraft are not insured. Though many parts of the jet (avionics especially) are delivered with warranties, the whole of the jet isn’t insured. In general, governments are also typically considered to be immune from liability. Who would insure a plane that was built to be shot at anyway?
Conclusion
Many analysts have very harshly criticized the rationale behind governments spending so much on procuring fighter jets. From a technical perspective, it’s hard to neglect the high cost of every piece of technology that goes into making a combat aircraft. But technology isn’t the only factor that influences the cost of fighter jets.
It is very true that military jets could be cheaper if there wasn’t so much politics involved in their production and design. Insufficient competition, unfavorable purchase strategy, and executive compensation also come together to drive up unit costs. These are some of the factors that make it unrealistic to expect lower buying costs in the future. But on the bright side, many new fighter jets aim to drive down operating costs. A highly welcome development!
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