This is not the first time that representatives of the US army have expressed concern about the high cost.
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Now, the manufacturing company of this model spoke about the level of costs for servicing a combat aircraft.
Lockheed Martin officials said that over the past seven years, the company has managed to cut the cost of operating the F-35 by half. It is planned to reduce them by another 35%.
Interestingly, a recent report from the U.S. Accounts Officeshowed that in fiscal year 2021, the country's air force spent about $7.8 million a year to operate one F-35A. At the same time, the target indicator for this item of expenditure was only at the level of $4.1 million.
It follows from this that even if Lockheed Martin reduces the operating cost by 35%, the F-35 will still be quite “expensive” to maintain a fighter.