Lightning II Fighter Jet is Five Years Behind, $6 Billion Over Estimates

The Government Accountability Office recently finalized an unflattering report on the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet and, to make a 54-page story short, the program is overspent, underperforming, and far, far behind schedule.

The F-35 Lightning II modernization effort, known as Block 4, is allegedly more than $6 billion over original estimates and at least five years behind schedule. Completion is unlikely before 2031, according to the GAO.

The Block 4 program was launched in 2018 as a project that would drop $16.5 billion to upgrade the stealth fighter’s hardware and software with new sensors, computing power, and weapons capabilities. At the center of the program is Technology Refresh 3, which is a package of hardware and software upgrades built by Lockheed Martin.

Last year, the project was converted to a “major subprogram” that would give the Defense Department better oversight of costs, schedules, and performance. That oversight has, so far, only painted the F-35 in a worse light, revealing fewer-than-promised capabilities, significant delays, and costs that remain “unknown” until we get new estimates later this year.

Despite the hiccups, contractors continue to receive generous incentive fees. The GAO notes that “in recent years, the program paid contractors, such as Lockheed Martin, hundreds of millions of dollars in incentive fees that were intended to improve on-time delivery. However, the structure of on-time delivery incentives allowed the contractor to deliver aircraft up to 60 days late and still earn some of the fee.” This means that Lockheed was cut a check for being timely even though its aircraft were delivered an average of 238 days late in 2024.

After two decades in production, the F-35 program has become notorious for overspending and missing targets. While the aircraft is considered the cornerstone of U.S. tactical airpower, the GAO concluded that it “continues to overpromise and underdeliver” and urged the Pentagon to hold Lockheed Martin accountable for its difficulty meeting deadlines.

FMI: www.lockheedmartin.com