The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has calculated the one-hour flight cost of 47 different types of aircraft used by the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Ground Forces. According to the published report, an hour’s flight of the fifth generation fighter aircraft F-35 Lightning II costs about 42 thousand dollars.The most costly fighter aircraft to take off was the F-22 Raptor, which cost $85,325 thousand to fly, while the F-35’s flight cost per hour was announced as exactly $41,986. The US military spends $26,927 for the flight of the fourth generation fighter aircraft F-16. The A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft is the most economical, costing $22,531 per hour.
The most costly aircraft to fly air command center
In the report, bombers and air command centers stood out as the biggest expenditure items. Specifically, an hour’s flight of a B-1B Lancer strategic bomber costs $173,014, and an E-4B Nightwatch air command post costs $372,496.
In October, it was reported that the US plans to phase out the B83-1 thermonuclear free-fall bomb due to rising maintenance costs. In September, it was learned that General Electric completed the test of the XA100 adaptive engine, which is being developed for the F-35 fighter jet.
