In 2036, the operations of the US Air Force( Air Force), the Marine Corps (KMP) and the US Navy (Navy) with fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighters will reach peak values, which may lead to difficulties with supporting these aircraft if the costs of their operation remain at the current level, Defense News writes.
The publication, referring to the report of the US Accounting Chamber, designates this period as a "turning point" for fifth-generation fighters. If current operating costs are maintained, the gap between the actual and planned cost of servicing the F-35 Lightning II will reach six billion dollars.
Defense News notes that in order to avoid cost overruns, the Air Force needs to reduce the cost of operating fighters by 47 percent ($4.4 billion) by 2036, the ILC — by 26 percent ($900 million), the Navy-by 14 percent ($655 million).
The Pentagon and the main contractor, Lockheed Martin, have different approaches to reducing the cost of the F-35 Lightning II, the publication reports.
In June, the Ukrainian information and consulting agency Defense Express stated that the F-35B Lightning II, which took off from the British aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth in the Mediterranean Sea, worked out an attack and further "conditional destruction"of ships of the Russian Navy.
In January, Christopher Miller, serving as the acting Secretary of Defense of the United States, called the program for creating the F-35 Lightning II "a piece of shit".
Ivan Potapov
