Air Force Fighter Plane Programs: F-35, F-15EX and F-22 PDF

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), also called the Lightning II, is a strike fighter airplane being procured in different versions for the Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy.

The F-35 program is DOD's largest weapon procurement program in terms of total estimated acquisition cost.

Current DOD plans call for acquiring a total of 2,456 F-35s.

Allies are expected to purchase hundreds of additional F-35s, and eight nations are cost-sharing partners in the program with the United States.

Chapters 1 through 6 address issues and concerns with this program.

The Trump Administration's FY2020 budget proposal includes a request for USD 1.1 billion to buy 8 F-15EX aircraft, the first procurement toward a planned initial buy of 144.

As reported in chapter 7, this proposal represents a change from previous Air Force plans to procure only stealthy "fifth-generation" fighter aircraft.

Chapter 8 examines the extent to which the Air Force's organization of its F-22 fleet maximizes availability of aircraft and utilization of its F-22 fleet affects pilot air superiority training.