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ktln2

F-35 is not expensive if you consider the alternatives:

Brazil bought 36 JAS-39E for $5.8 billion. [1]

Taiwan ordered 66 F-16V for $8.1 billion. [2]

Korea is going to get 20 F-35A for $3.3 billion. [3]

[1] https://www.flightglobal.com/saab-brazil-finalise-gripen-ng-...

[2] https://nationalinterest.org/feature/taiwans-f-16v-fighter-j...

[3] https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2019/10/10/s...

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Keep in mind that it's very difficult to compare prices like this, because you're buying a lot more than just the aircraft. There's spare parts, maintenance equipment, and simulators. The prices are also going to vary based on the procurement schedule: ordering 12 planes to arrive in the next 6 months is going to be more expensive than requesting one plane arrive each month for the next year. Countries also try to include some sort of technology sharing or shared production deals, where the company agrees to build some of the parts or components in the host country. This is often done to benefit the country's domestic arms industry (NB: this isn't necessarily nefarious, there are plenty of benefits to having a good domestic arms industry. It means your weapons and components are made locally, so they can't be intercepted in a time of war and your enemy can't use diplomacy to cut you off from your supplier. And other countries tend to have export restrictions, so that the top-of-the-line equipment their companies make won't be available to others.)

Buying weapons from your global security partners is part of a larger geopolitical picture/strategy. The cost is almost secondary. Look at who the US sells weapons to, what countries are banned by us weapons export ban laws. Look at who Russia sells weapons to. There is not a whole lot of overlap between the two countries.

Posting countries and dollar figures is part of the picture, but does not tell the whole story.

And when there is an overlap, people freak out. Just take Turkey as an example. They almost got kcked out of the F-35 program after buying Russion air defence systems. The US feared the Russians could learn too much about the F-35.

Brazil's purchase from Saab includes technology transfer.

The United States bid on this contract with the F/A-18E. I can't imagine the U.S. approving the sale of F-35 technology to Brazil at any reasonable price.

Someone else mentioned a few of the costs not taken into account, such as the Navy needing to spend money they didn't initially plan on spending so the heat of the F-35B doesn't damage the flight deck of the amphib ships. Those had been built to expect the heat of the A/V-8B which is significantly less than what comes out of the tailpipe of the F-35.

155 per JAS vs 100 per F35. But Brazil didn't pay th3 development costs for the JAS. Didn't the US pay that?

Militarism is a colossal waste of taxpayer money.

Well, that's not really what's being discussed here.

Not when you have a few adversarial nation-states around the corner that do not consider it a waste of taxpayer money.

A $10 billion investment in anti aircraft missiles that forces a $100 billion investment in aircraft instead of schools and semiconductor fabs is great ROI for an adversarial nation state that knows their government would be wiped off the face of the planet if they ever decided to use them.

Modern AA missile systems are also very expensive - a S-400 battery cost you $500 million. [1]

[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/19/russia-lures-buyers-as-s-400...

Nukes and rockets exist.

For many countries they have no choice - you either spend the money on Military or you get invaded by Russia/China/North Korea.

Not really the case for the USA. Its military is way larger than needed for defensive purposes. Heck it isnt even threatened by invasion by any of those countries.

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