PARTE 8
3. Boeing F/A-18E SUPER HORNET
Program Unit Cost : $ 95.3 million
Unit Procurement Cost: $ 78.4 million
Manufacturer’s comment:
In response to our query, Boeing said that “the fly-away cost of the Super Hornet, under the
current, second multi-year procurement contract with the U.S. Navy, is $53.8 million.”
Cost data and sources:
- Unit fly-away cost of the F-18E, as included in the US Navy FY07 budget request, is $78.4
million per aircraft. (4)
- In the latest DOD Selected Acquisition Reports (Dec. 31, 2005), the total program cost for the
462 planned F-18E Super Hornets is set at $44.03 billion, putting the Program Unit Cost at $95.3
million per aircraft. (5)
Sources:
(4) US Navy FY07 budget request, F-18E page
http://public.secnav.navy.mil/FY07.nsf/($reload)/8525711F000FDA09852570F200669A35/$FILE/145+FA-
18EF.pdf
(5) SAR Program Acquisition Cost Summary (Dec. 31, 2005)
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Apr2006/d20060407sars.pdf
4. Boeing F-15E STRIKE EAGLE:
Program Unit Cost : not significant
Unit Procurement Cost: $ 108.2 million (atypical)
Manufacturer’s comment:
Boeing provided no comment on the cost of the F-15E.
Cost data and sources:
The F-15E Strike Eagle is no longer in production for the US Air Force, so no current production
prices are available, while total program costs are now outdated and not significant.
However, at the direction of Congress, the Pentagon included $108.2 million in the Air Force’s
FY07 budget request to fund a single attrition reserve aircraft, and this is the most recent price
available for the aircraft.
Source:
(6) US Air Force FY07 budget request:
https://www.saffm.hq.af.mil/FMB/pb/2007/afprocurement/3010_Aircraft_Procurement_v1_FY07_PB.pdf
See page 77
PARTE 9
5. Eurofighter TYPHOON:
Program Unit Cost : $ 143.8 million (Royal Air Force)
Unit Procurement Cost : $ 118.6 million (Royal Air Force)
Manufacturer’s comment:
According to figures provided to the German Bundestag on June 15, 2004 by the German Ministry
of Defence, total cost to Germany of the Eurofighter program is 21.3 billion euros, of which 5.87
billion euros for development and 15.4 billion euros for procurement of 180 aircraft.
Editor’s note: These figures work out to a unit program cost of 118.3 million euros per aircraft, and
a unit procurement cost of 85.7 million euros (including subsystems) per aircraft for Germany.
Cost data and sources:
- The UK House of Commons Defence Committee, in July 2004, estimated the cost to Britain of the
Eurofighter Typhoon program at £ 19.018 billion for 242 aircraft, or a program unit cost of £78.6
million per aircraft. (7)
- In 2005, the UK National Audit Office estimated the unit production cost of Typhoon aircraft for
the Royal Air Force at £ 64.8 million, based on the Tranche 1 and Tranche 2 contracts that have
already been awarded. (8)
- On July 22, 2005, the Spanish government cabinet estimated the cost of its share of the
Eurofighter program at 9.19 billion euros for 87 aircraft, equivalent to a program unit cost of 105.6
million euros per aircraft including the cost of the future Tranche 3 contract (9).
- UK MoD statement, Dec. 17, 2004:
“In addition Typhoon represents one of the largest, if not the largest, European defence investment
to date. Certainly it is the largest for the RAF, providing 89 Tranche 2 aircraft, in addition to the 55
Tranche 1 aircraft already on order, and represents a future investment of £4.3 billion” This implies
a unit procurement cost of £ 48.3 million per aircraft, without engines and certain subsystems.
- Eurofighter GmbH statement, Dec. 17, 2004:
“Production of the 236 Tranche 2 aircraft ….the overall value of the contract is in the region of Euro
13 billion,” but this figure is not significant as it excludes the cost of the engines and of some
subsystems, which are procured separately.
Sources:
(7) House of Commons Defence Committee: Sixth Report: Defence Procurement
28 July 2004
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmdfence/572/57202.htm
(8) Ministry of Defence: Major Projects Report 2005, by the National Audit Office
See Project Summary Sheets, page 113
http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/nao_reports/05-06/0506595_II.pdf
(9) Spanish government cabinet statement on cabinet decision on Eurofighter Tranche 2 contract, July 22,
2005.
PARTE 10
6. Lockheed F-35 JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER
Program Unit Cost : $ 112.5 million
Unit Procurement Cost : $ 115 million (LRIP aircraft)
Manufacturer’s comment:
Lockheed Martin did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Cost data and sources:
- The Government Accountability Office (GAO), in its March 31 report on “Defense Acquisitions:
Assessments of Selected Major Weapon Programs” estimates the Joint Strike Fighter’s cost at $257
billion for 2,443 aircraft, i.e. a unit program cost of $105.2 million per aircraft in FY2006 dollars.
(16)
- Another GAO report, also published in March 2006, estimates the cost of 424 Low Rate Initial
Production aircraft at $ 49 billion, i.e. $ 115 million per aircraft (see note 15).
- However, is its April 2006 Selected Acquisition Report, the Pentagon said total JSF program costs
had increased to $276.5 billion for the 2,458 aircraft planned by the US (see note 17), meaning
unit procurement cost increased in proportion to $112.5 million. This is the latest figure available,
and is the one used for comparison purposes.
- As the JSF program is still in early development, no figures are available for its unit procurement
cost once full-rate production gets underway. Much higher cost estimates have been made public
than those used in this study; for example the US Air Force, in documents accompanying its FY07
budget request, estimates the JSF’s future “recurring fly-away cost at $154.6 million (see note 13)
- On June 9, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) estimated the average procurement unit
cost (APUC, which does not include R&D or other “sunk” costs) at $94.8 million per aircraft in thenyear
dollars. (see note 18)
- The LRIP contract price was used to compute JSF’s unit procurement costs because this is the
only contractual figure to have been made public. It is however not a satisfactory basis.
Sources:
(18) CRS: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program: Background, Status, and Issues (June 9, 2006)
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/weapons/RL30563.pdf (see page 6)
(16) GAO: Tactical Aircraft: Recapitalization Goals Are Not Supported by F-22A and JSF Business Cases
(Testimony, March 2006)
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-487T
(13) US Air Force, FY07 budget request
https://www.saffm.hq.af.mil/FMB/pb/2007/afprocurement/3010_Aircraft_Procurement_v1_FY07_PB.pdf
(14) Department of Defense, Program Acquisition Costs by Weapon System, FY07
http://www.dod.mil/comptroller/defbudget/fy2007/fy2007_weabook.pdf
(15) GAO: Joint Strike Fighter: DOD Plans to Enter Production before Testing Demonstrates Acceptable
Performance, see Appendix II
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-356
(17) Pentagon: Selected Acquisition Report, April 2006
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Apr2006/d20060407sars.pdf
PARTE 11
7. Lockheed Martin F-22A RAPTOR
Program Unit Cost : $ 361.3 million
Unit Procurement Cost : $ 177.6 million
Manufacturer’s comment:
Lockheed Martin did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Cost data and sources:
The number of F-22s to be produced, and the total program cost, has undergone many changes
since the program was first launched. In February 1992, the program was estimated to cost $81.1
billion for 624 aircraft, that is to say a program unit cost of $125.1 million (in FY 2006 dollars) but
has escalated since then.
-Given the wildly differing prices quoted for the F-22, we opted to use figures published by the
Government Accountability Office (GAO) March 31 report on “Defense Acquisitions: Assessments of
Selected Major Weapon Programs,” while quoting other official sources for the sake of
comprehensiveness.
GAO estimates the F-22 program’s cost at $65.4 billion for 181 aircraft (in FY 2006 dollars), that is
to say a program unit cost of $361.3 million per aircraft. (12)
- GAO also estimates procurement costs at $32.14 billion for the same 1841 aircraft, implying a
unit procurement cost of $177.6 million per aircraft.
- In its latest Selected Acquisition Report, released on April 10, 2006, the Pentagon estimates the
program’s total cost at $62.6 billion for 184 aircraft, implying a program unit cost of $338.8 million
per aircraft. (10)
- In its FY07 budget request, the US Air Force sets the F-22A’s fly-away unit cost at $141.5 million.
(11)
- No F-22s are procured in the FY07 budget. However, the 24 aircraft funded in the FY06 budget
cost $3,766.8 million, or a unit production cost (excluding R&D amortization) of $156.9 million per
aircraft (see 14, page 18).
Sources:
(10): Pentagon SAR, April 2006:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Apr2006/d20060407sars.pdf
(11) US Air Force FY07 budget request, page 53
https://www.saffm.hq.af.mil/FMB/pb/2007/afprocurement/3010_Aircraft_Procurement_v1_FY07_PB.pdf
(12) Government Accountability Office (GAO), Defense Acquisitions: Assessments of Selected Major Weapon
Programs (page 59)
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06391.pdf
PARTE 12
NOTE ON METHODOLOGY
These cost/price estimates are based on cost data published by government auditors, such as the
US Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Congressional
Research Service (CRS), or Britain’s National Audit Office (NAO). Other cost data was obtained
from government press releases or reports, parliamentary budget reports or testimony in official
hearings. Sources are identified, and links provided.
To ensure that figures are as objective as possible, manufacturers were not consulted for the study
but were subsequently asked to comment its findings. Comments are included as provided.
Price figures are provided both in terms of “program unit cost,” i.e. the total cost of a program
divided by the number of aircraft produced, and of “unit procurement cost,” that is to say the value
of the most recent production contract divided by the number of aircraft it financed.
While these figures are not directly comparable because of differing national accounting and
budgeting standards, they offer the best available indication of real aircraft prices.
Export contract prices are useful benchmarks and provide realistic figures in terms of how much it
actually costs to buy and operate a given aircraft. However, they were not used in this study as
they include the cost of ancillary equipment, training, spares and weapons that vary according to
the customer, making it impossible to extrapolate actual aircraft prices.
For the same reasons, fly-away prices and life-cycle costs were not considered for this study.
Unless otherwise indicated, prices refer to complete aircraft (i.e. including engines, flight and
mission avionics) without their weapons except, when fitted, for fixed cannon.
TAXES: VAT rates and export prices
Prices used in this study are inclusive of value-added tax (VAT), where applicable, as the basis we
used is the cost billed to national customers.
Consequently, the export prices of European aircraft should be reduced by the amount of national
VAT, which is not applicable on export contracts. Thus, the basic export price of a single-seat
Rafale C drops to 41.5 million euros ($ 49.8 million) after deduction of France’s VAT of 19.6%,
while that of Eurofighter would be reduced by the VAT rate in the partner country which invoices
the customer (16% in Germany, 20% in Italy and 17.5 in the United Kingdom). Gripen’s export
price should be reduced by the Swedish VAT rate of 25%.
Prices and Exchange Rates
For the purposes of this study, all price figures are in current values, except as otherwise noted.
US dollars have been used as the benchmark for price comparisons. The currency exchange rates
used in this study are as follows:
-- 1 euro = $ 1.2
-- 1 pound sterling: $1.83 (approximate average exchange rate from 4/04 to 4/06)
-ends-