Cost Comparison with Gripen E

¶ 12. Cost Comparison with Rafale and Eurofighter

¶ Operating Costs per Flight Hour

Note on operating cost figures: Operating costs are based on third-party data. Since neither the calculation methodology, the exact time of data collection, nor the full scope of costs are known, the informative value is limited accordingly.

Note on cost basis: All USD amounts from US government sources (GAO, CBO, DoD) in this article are expressed in Base Year 2012 Dollars (BY2012$). Adjusted for inflation to 2026, actual values are approximately 40–50% higher.

Type	Cost per Flight Hour	Source
F-35A	USD 34,000-36,000 (BY2012$)	GAO 2024 [3]
Rafale	EUR 14,000-20,000	French Air Force [65]
Eurofighter	EUR 60,000-74,000	Germany 2010 [66]

The Rafale has the lowest operating costs of any Western fighter aircraft in this class. The Eurofighter is the most expensive due to high development cost allocations.

¶ Air2030 Evaluation (2021)

The Swiss evaluation determined a cost advantage for the F-35A over 30 years of USD 2.16 billion compared to the Eurofighter, Rafale and F/A-18E/F [67]. This advantage was based on estimates at the time. The sustainment costs that have since risen by 44% [3] and the fleet reduction to 28-30 aircraft [2] alter this calculation.

¶ Source Code Access: No Supplier Offers Full Access

Neither the F-35 (ITAR restrictions) nor the Rafale (France refuses source code access, e.g. to India [68]) offer full technology sovereignty. Only Sweden has granted source code access in Gripen exports [68].

Translated from the German version. See the German version for complete references.