Cost Data
F-35 (Block 3)/A-10 Cost Comparison
Procurement: 281 F-35’s cost $32,458,872,000
Source (PDF pg. 63):
https://www.saffm.hq.af.mil/Portals/84/documents/FY23/PROCUREMENT_/FY23%20Air%20Force%20A
ircraft%20Procurement%20Vol%20I.pdf?ver=G7mDgA6gGUT-vbPL4Xs1jA%3d%3d
F-35 Operating Costs: $30,000 per flight hour.
Cost Source:
https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-wing/lockheed-agrees-to-30000-per-flight-hour-cost-
for-f-35a-by-fy2023/145448.article
Total Operating Cost over 10 years: $18,000,000,000
10 Squadrons of 24 aircraft flying 6,000 hours each year =$1,800,000,000 operating cost per year.
Squadron Size source:
https://www.usafe.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2874565/raf-lakenheath-welcomes-first-5th-generation-f-
35/#:~:text=The%20aircraft%20will%20belong%20to,delivered%20in%20a%20phased%20approach.
Military Construction: 10 base upgrades = $6,040,000,000
$604,000,000 Cost to upgrade each base for F-35 operations
Source:
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/air-force/2022/05/air-force-awards-largest-ever-military-construction-contract-for-f-35-facilities-at-tyndall/#:~:text=The%20%24532%20million%20project%2C%20which,in%20September%20of%20next%20year.
Pilot Training: $945,000,000 to retrain 10 A-10 squadrons to fly F-35s
90 flight hours per student pilot x 35 pilots per squadron x $30,000 per flight hour$94,500,000 to train a squadron’s worth of F-35 pilots.
Source: https://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/08/17/peeking-into-the-air-forces-f35-training-course.html
Total to purchase 281 F-35s, build facilities, operate 10 squadrons, and train pilots = $56.6 billion
A-10 Costs
Procurement: None
Upgrades: $10 million per x 281 = $2,810,000,000
Operating Costs: $3.7 billion over 5 years x 2 = Adjusted for inflation from 2013 = $7,400,000,000
Source: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/37233/the-a-10-warthog-is-preparing-for-its-biggest-
upgrade-in-over-a-decade
$3.7 billion over 5 years x 2 = Adjusted for inflation from 2013 = $7,400,000,000
Total top upgrade and operate 281 A-10s over 10 years = $10,210,000,000
Ten Year Savings from keeping 281 A-10s instead of replacing them with 281 Block 3 F-35s = $46,383,372,000
F-35 Block 4 Upgrade will cost an additional $15Bn over 12 years.