A Pure Gold F35 Fighter Plane would be cheaper

[unhappycamper]

http://nextbigfuture.com/2014/07/a-pure-gold-f35-fighter-plane-would-be.html



A Pure Gold F35 Fighter Plane would be cheaper

The F-35 program office found that as of January 2014, costs for the F-35 fleet over a 53-year life cycle was $857 billion. Costs for the fighter have been dropping and accounted for the 22 percent life cycle drop since 2010.

The empty weight of an F-35 jet is 32000 pounds. At $1300 per ounce this $670.8 million.

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, fifth-generation multirole fighters under development to perform ground attack, reconnaissance, and air defense missions with stealth capability. The F-35 has three main models; the F-35A is a conventional takeoff and landing variant, the F-35B is a short take-off and vertical-landing variant, and the F-35C is a carrier-based variant

It is not a gold plated military program... it is pure solid gold.

[TexasProgresive]

1. It still wouldn't be able to turn

and its gun can't fire. When it can it will run out of ammo in the first burst. Then a Sukhoi Su-30 Flanker will shoot it down.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/31/new-u-s-stealth-jet-can-t-fire-its-gun-until-2019.html

I know that's not the point of your OP unhappycamper but I just couldn't resist. I'm guessing this boondoggle program is nearing its end so SecDef Hagel is proposing replacing the B-2 while the heavy lifting is still the mission of the B-52.

[MisterP]

2. probably perform better, too

[bemildred]

3. Sure it would be cheaper, it would look impressive too, but could it fly? nt

[jakeXT]

4. DOD to up request of F-35 jets

The Pentagon will request funding for 57 F-35 stealth fighter jets — two more than previously planned.

The request, reported by Bloomberg, is expected to be included in the Pentagon's fiscal 2016 defense budget submission to Congress on Feb. 2.
If approved by Congress, the plans would mark a significant increase of F-35 purchases from the current year. The Pentagon requested 34 jets for 2015, which Congress increased to 38, Bloomberg reported.

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/229601-dod-to-up-request-of-f-35-jests