Lockheed Martin initially quoted 77 million to 654.38 billion pounds (680 million to 890 million yuan) for each F-35. This high-tech fighter-bomber delivered this year means a lot of expenses such as software upgrade and parts. These extra costs are not included in the figures published in the US defense contract. The devaluation of the pound against the dollar also forced British taxpayers to pay more. Although the fighter itself is very advanced in technology, due to the lack of British investment in military communications, the advanced technical capabilities of the fighter cannot match the existing facilities of the British army.
In addition, because British defense officials did not buy the key system to ensure that the F-35 can "talk" with other fighters in stealth state, in order to maintain communication, fighter pilots have to switch to the unsafe "connection 16" frequency band, which is likely to expose themselves.
There have been problems in the development of F-35. A test pilot had to land in near black due to the failure of the 309,000-pound (2.739 million yuan) night vision helmet equipped by the fighter. The F-35' s expensive software system can't resist hacker attacks, which makes it impossible for Britain to independently test the safety of fighter planes. F-35 "has such problems in all aspects, which is incredibly abnormal."
The company and the US government have never included the cost of parts or system upgrades in their quotations, and it is expected that the cost of this fighter will be reduced in the future. The British Ministry of Defence also responded that it is "actively handling" all the problems of the F-35 fighter, and as long as there are problems, it will start to solve them immediately.