F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program

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F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program Updated January 14, 2022 Congressional Research Service RL30563 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program Congressional Research Service Summary 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. Current DOD plans call for acquiring a total of 2,456 F-35s. Allies are expected to purchase hundreds of additional F-35s, and eight nations are cost-sharing partners in the Program with the United States. The F-35 promises significant advances in military capability. Like many high-technology programs before it, reaching that capability has put the Program above its original budget and behind the planned schedule.

Marine Corps, and Navy at an estimated total acquisition cost, as of December, 2019, of about $397.8 billion in constant (i.e., inflation-adjusted) FY2012 dollars. 2 U.S. allies are expected to purchase hundreds of additional F-35s, and eight foreign nations are cost-sharing partners in the

  Estimated