A decision to eject from a failing F-35B fighter and the betrayal in its wake

$2 trillion to develop something that can't even dependably fly and the Pentagon can't even pass an audit. What a joke.

$2t is the price tag of the entire program [1], from its conception to the jets retiring decades from now (note that programs tend to get extended, so the retirement year is probably too pessimistic). For comparison, the US is still producing F-16s, with the first F-16 produced in 1976.

F-35s has a much lower crash rate than F-16s during their first 20 years in service [2] and just recently passed 1 million flight hours [3]. The program has its problems, but it resulted in an incredibly capable fighter plane. Practically every US ally that has access to the F-35 run their evaluations and concluded that the F-35 is the best option (eg [4], quote: "F-35A offers highest overall benefit at lowest cost by far").

[1]: https://www.gao.gov/blog/f-35-will-now-exceed-2-trillion-mil...

[2]: https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/are-new-fighter-jets-more...

[3]: https://theaviationist.com/2025/03/04/f-35-one-million-fligh...

[4]: https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/documentation/media-releas...