Air Force Loses Its Appetite for Shiny, Unreliable Fighter Jet With Huge Price Tag

(DCNF)—The U.S. Air Force slashed its request to Congress for Lockheed Martin’s most advanced fighter jet in half, dealing a blow to the defense industry titan, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.

The branch slashed its order of F-35 fighter jets from 48 units to only 24 units in their procurement request documents sent to Capitol Hill this week, according to Bloomberg. Critics have long lambasted the fighter jet as an example of the pitfalls of Pentagon contracting due to its extremely costly development and timeline delays, as the F-35 was projected in 2024 to cost the Pentagon $2 trillion over the coming decades while it spent more than 20 years being behind full production levels.

As of May 2024, there were around 630 F-35s in service across the U.S. military, with more being sold to other nations for their armed forces; at the time, the military had plans to acquire nearly 2,000 more F-35 jets.

The procurement request may undergo major changes in Congress, and Lockheed Martin has many allies on Capitol Hill, according to Bloomberg. In total, Lockheed Martin has spent more than $3.5 million in lobbying congress so far in 2025, according to Open Secrets data.

The F-35 is a fifth-generation fighter designed to be a multi-role aircraft that incorporated vertical take-off and landing and stealth capabilities in order to facilitate use by all branches of the armed forces, according to the contractor. Lockheed Martin delivered its first jet in 2006.

So far, 967 jets have been contracted, and Lockheed Martin has delivered 747 units, according to Bloomberg. However, many of the jets have suffered from persistent readiness issues attributable to maintenance problems.

Each F-35 cost roughly $80 million to produce, F-35 Joint Program Office spokesman Russ Goemaere told Breaking Defense in 2023. The Pentagon has long held a preoccupation with expensive projects such as the F-35, with experts previously telling the Daily Caller News Foundation that the philosophy could be in for a rude awakening given that modern battlefields are increasingly dominated by cheap, mass-produced drones.

President Donald Trump recently unveiled the F-47 in March, meant to be America’s foray into sixth-generation fighters. The contract for the new aircraft went to Boeing, another mainstay manufacturer of the defense industrial complex.

The Trump administration has made it a priority to reform the Department of Defense’s contracting system, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently issuing a slew of orders in May to review contracts at the Pentagon, including major reform to the DOD’s weapons testing and procurement office.

“The F-35 is the cornerstone of the battlespace for the U.S. military, enabling peace through strength in the 21st century,” a Lockheed Martin spokesperson told the DCNF. “It is combat proven, offers the most advanced capability and technology, and is the most affordable option to ensure the U.S. and allies remain ahead of emerging threats. We will continue to work closely with the Administration, Congress and our customers to deliver this game-changing capability as the budget process continues in the months ahead.”

The Air Force did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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