From the Department of Defense 2015 Budget Request document published by the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense Comptroller (1) comes these weapon costs. Note that the costs are for procurement only. R&D costs are excluded. Quantities and costs are requested and may by modified by Congress. If you “disagree” with the costs, argue with the Comptroller of DoD, not me.
USAF F-35A
2013 Qty=19 Cost=$2.9B $153M each
2014 Qty=19 Cost=$3.4B $179M each
2015 Qty=26 Cost=$4.0B $154M each
USN F-35B/C (breakout not specified)
2013 Qty=10 Cost=$2.0B $200M each
2014 Qty=10 Cost=$2.5B $250M each
2015 Qty=8 Cost=$2.3B $287M each
USN MQ-4 Triton (BAMS)
2013 Qty=3 Cost=$613M $206M each
USN P-8A Poseidon
2013 Qty=13 Cost=$2.6B $200M each
2014 Qty=16 Cost=$3.6B $225M each
2015 Qty=8 Cost=$2.1B $262M each
USN Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM)
2015 Qty=224 Cost=$337M $1.5M each
USN Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM)
2015 Qty=104 Cost=$119M $1.1M each
USN Standard Missile (SM-6)
2015 Qty=110 Cost=$446M $4.1M each
USN Tomahawk Missile
2015 Qty=100 Cost=$194M $1.9M each
USN Burke DDG
2013 Qty=3 Cost=$4.5B $1.5B each
2014 Qty=1 Cost=$2.1B $2.1B each
2015 Qty=2 Cost=$2.9B $1.4B each
USN LCS (includes unspecified module costs)
2013 Qty=4 Cost=$1.9B $475M each
2014 Qty=4 Cost=$2.0B $500M each
2015 Qty=3 Cost=$1.8B $600M each
USN Virginia SSN
2013 Qty=2 Cost=$4.8B $2.4B each
2014 Qty=2 Cost=$6.6B $3.3B each
2015 Qty=2 Cost=$6.1B $3.0B each
USN Ship to Shore Connector (SSC – LCAC Replacement)
2015 Qty=2 Cost=$123M $61M each
Do the F-35 prices include the engine?
ReplyDeleteUnknown. My guess is yes but that's just a guess.
DeleteI may be wrong, but off the top of my head, nearly all those prices are somewhat higher than the "advertised" cost arn't they ?
ReplyDeleteBeno
Beno, they are, generally. There are several reasons.
DeleteAdvertised costs, as you put it, are the announced cost of the major single contract associated with purchase. What isn't mentioned is the long lead item contracts that were issued prior to the main one, the follow up smaller contracts that are issued to cover cost overruns and modifications. Final fitting out is also not covered in the main contract. Govt supplied equipment is not included in any contract. The main contract may not include all items - for example, ship contracts today are for hull only and the F-35 contract is without an engine.
So, yes, the advertised contracts are less than what is listed here. I believe that these numbers more accurately reflect the real acquisition cost.
Every article or investigator that digs into purchases and assembles all the contracts and costs associated with a given purchase inevitably winds up with these kinds of numbers as opposed to advertised costs.
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