Here are the numbers as reported by Business Insider back in 2016:
E-4 Nightwatch — $159,529
B-2 Spirit — $130,159
C-5 Galaxy — $100,941
OC-135 Open Skies — $99,722
E-8C Joint STARS — $70,780
B-52 Stratofortress — $70,388
F-35A Lightning II — $67,550
CV-22 Osprey — $63,792
B-1B Lancer — $61,027
F-22 Raptor — $58,059
See the link for the chart. It appears that by 2019, the F-35A CFPH dropped to about $44,000, shaving almost a third of the cost off in 3 years. They don’t expect the F-35A, the cheapest of the variants, to go much below $37,000 per flying hour. Doesn’t seem like much of a bargain compared to the F-22.
Breaking Defense reported the cost of the CV-22 Osprey at $9,520 per flying hour back in 2014, only 15 percent of the cost reported by Business Insider two years later. The higher number ($63,792) sounds more realistic to me, but of course, with the vagaries of costing, both numbers could have been correct given different parameters of the measurement.
Here’s some additional explanation:
The E-4 Nightwatch is the most expensive military plane the Air Force operates. The Nightwatch is a command and control aircraft that’s meant to serve as a flying airbase for the US president and cabinet members in case of a national disaster. Designed as a doomsday plane, the Nightwatch is expensive to operate because of its size and technical abilities. The plane is specially designed to survive electromagnetic pulses, with additional thermal and nuclear shielding. It can also refuel aerially and fit up to 112 passengers.
Surprisingly, the much maligned F-35 is only the seventh most expensive plane per hour that the Air Force flies. Its costs arepartially due to the lack of an efficient supply chain for the aircraft, something that should be sorted out over the coming years. Among the cheapest aircraft that the Air Force operates are Predator drones and the A-10. These aircraft cost an estimated $1,500 and $11,500 per hour to operate, respectively.
I was under the impression that drones (UAVs) need a lot of ground equipment and much more personnel to perform operations. Perhaps adding those salaries up doesn’t really cost all that much compared to expensive maintenance procedures from contractors on jets like the F-35.
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