Top 10 most expensive fighter jets in 2024

One of the biggest investments any defense department can make is in improving its air capabilities. The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program has the dubious accolade of being the most expensive fighter jet project in history, with an estimated lifetime cost of over $1.7 trillion.

But the cost of the defense project doesn’t always equate to the most expensive fighter jets in terms of sticker price. In fact, according to our research, the F-35 is only the fifth most expensive fighter jet on the market, surpassed by several others in terms of what nations are paying to acquire them.

The cost of fighter jets fluctuates between tranches and can be influenced by external pressures. For example, Defense One reported in July 2024 that Lockheed would be ‘challenged’ to keep the costs of the F-35 down amid rising prices for raw materials. The most expensive, the F-35B vertical takeoff and landing variant, currently costs around $109 million, slightly less than it has been in the past, although that could change in future production tranches.

The cost of fighter jets is also affected by the specifications of the order. The flyaway cost of the most basic model can be low, but it then rises in line with the requests for things like weapons systems and avionics. In the case of the F-35, the base model is around $80 million, rising to the highest known price of $109 million per unit.

Some of the most expensive fighter jets cost way more to produce than the sticker price. The current most expensive fighter is the F-22 Raptor, which the US Air Force states had a unit cost of $143 million when sold. However, Airforce Technology estimates that the actual production cost of the jet is as much as $350 million apiece.

For our ranking of the most expensive fighter jets, we’ve used available sources of information combined with reports of orders to estimate the highest price paid for each model. However, flyaway costs of base models may be lower, and individual contracts can vary in value following negotiations. As many details of defense deals are confidential, we’ve used our best guesstimates to form this ranking.