McDonald said that F-35 customers indicated that the cost of ownership now runs lower than that for fourth-generation combat aircraft. The acquisition cost also is comparable, with the F-35 now below $80 million, he added.
Ownership and acquisition costs account for the two key reasons why the F-35 has won so many evaluations against the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, the Dassault Rafale, the Eurofighter Typhoon, and the Saab Gripen. In the past year alone, Canada, Finland, Germany, and Switzerland have all chosen the F-35 rather than those warplanes. In particular, McDonald noted that Finland and Switzerland “had been very transparent” by publishing their evaluation data....