limiting the number of F-35s aircraft that could be procured based on the cost of operating and maintaining them.

The proposed budget also requested about $2.1 billion for F-35 research and development.įY2022 defense authorization act: The FY2022 defense authorization bill funded F-35 procurement at $8.7 billion for 85 aircraft (48 F-35As, 17 F-35Bs, and 20 F-35Cs, the numbers requested by the Administration.) The joint explanatory statement accompanying the bill included language: This would fund the procurement of 48 F-35As for the Air Force, 17 F-35Bs for the Marine Corps, 20 F-35Cs for the Navy and Marines, advance procurement for future aircraft, and continuing modifications. The Administration’s proposed FY2022 defense budget requested about $9.4 billion in procurement funding for the F-35 program. Like many high-technology programs before it, reaching that capability has put the program above its original budget and behind the planned schedule.

The F-35 promises significant advances in military capability.

Allies are expected to purchase hundreds of additional F-35s, and eight nations are cost-sharing partners in the program with the United States. Current DOD plans call for acquiring a total of 2,456 F-35s. The largest procurement program in the Department of Defense (DOD), the F-35 Lightning II is a strike fighter aircraft being procured in different versions for the United States Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy. 14, 2022, Congressional Research Service report, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program.

Joint strike fighter game