U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Charles C. Brown Jr. compared the U.S. fifth-generation F-35 fighter jet to a Ferrari: “You don’t drive your Ferrari to work every day, you only drive it on Sundays.” He also admitted that the F-35 has problems with engine wear and tear
It is very expensive to operate the F-35 fighter jet: one hour of flying costs around $42,000. The US Air Force is currently conducting a study of tactical aviation needs to formulate a request for fiscal year 2023.
The US Air Force chief of staff’s statement about Ferrari suggests that the order for the F-35 fighter jets will be significantly limited. In fact, he admits that the F-35 programme is a fiasco and the US Air Force still needs a light tactical fighter with a low operating cost. There is virtually no development on the subject, and the average age of the U.S. Air Force fighter fleet is 28 years.