The F-35 program was able to displace the F-22 program, which was considered the most prominent among fifth-generation fighters due to its high cost, according to a report published by the "National Interest" magazine.
The F-22 is considered one of the most important aircraft in the United States, and it has 186 of them, and it actually entered service in 2005, instead of the F-15, as it has a high ability to fly and fly quickly and with high maneuvering capabilities. Very distinct warship.
In 2009, the United States stopped supporting the financing of the purchase of these aircraft, and their production stopped, and it became the largest trend for financing the purchase of the F-35 aircraft, which is considered the sixth generation.
Senator Jim Inhofe said that the continuation of the development and financing of the purchase of the F-35 aircraft must take into account what happened during the manufacture of the F-22 aircraft, as the factor of high costs had a significant impact on stopping its manufacture.
And he pointed out that "at a time when we wanted to own 700 F-22 aircraft, we stopped financing this aircraft when the number was less than 200 aircraft."
Inhofe called for not exposing the US forces or their allied forces to any risks from reducing the number of F-35 aircraft owned by the United States.
The F-35 fighter, which is supposed to replace a large part of the American air fighters, is the most expensive armament program in the history of the United States.
Since aviation giant Lockheed Martin was awarded the contract in 2001, it was expected that tasks would be shared between several partner countries, namely Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Denmark, Norway and Australia, each according to the money invested, according to a previous report by Agence France-Presse.
The United States contributes the largest share in financing 90 percent of the costs of developing this aircraft.
In 2019, the US Department of Defense, the Pentagon, announced the completion of a deal to purchase F-35 aircraft, worth $34 billion.
It explained in a press release at the time that the deal related to the purchase of 478 F-35 Lightning II aircraft from the giant military industries, Lockheed Martin.
The Pentagon indicated that these aircraft will be of the fifth generation, and will form the backbone of the US Air Force and its allies in the future.
The deal also includes aircraft of various F-35 models, which include: (F-35A), (F-35B) and (F-35C).
The statement stated that some of the aircraft will be allocated to allied countries, as they were purchased as part of the deal.
The price of the F-35A aircraft will be about $80 million.
With this new agreement between the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin, the number of (F-35) aircraft required from the company will exceed 900 aircraft for the United States, which raises the number of fighters required from the company in total to more than 3100 aircraft, if the agreement with countries allied to America is calculated. .