The U.S. Department of Defense has submitted this month its fiscal year 2024 budget request, with the total bill coming to $842 billion. Last year, the Senate authorized a similarly massive defense spending budget. Spending like this comfortably ensures that the United States will continue to be the world’s largest defense spender, and by a healthy margin. According to the latest data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the American military spending is greater than that of the next nine countries combined.
One branch of the military slated to receive a portion of those funds is the U.S. Navy air fleet. Based on the planes already in the Navy’s inventory, the price of any new aircraft will be quite high.
To identify the most expensive aircraft in the U.S. Navy, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed Department of Defense data on the unit price of aircraft. To adjust prices from the year listed to current values, we used the CPI inflation calculator from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We only listed the 15 aircraft with unit prices above $1 million, considering only fixed wing aircraft, excluding drones and uncrewed vehicles, for which unit cost estimates were available on the U.S. Navy website.
Inventory of each aircraft in 2021 is from the 2022 World Air Forces report from FlightGlobal, an aviation news and data company. Information on aircraft function and contractors are also from the U.S. Navy.
The most expensive aircraft in the Navy’s fleet is the E-6B Mercury Airborne Command Post. It has an estimated unit cost of $153.9 million. The aircraft is used primarily as a strategic communications center to pass information along to the Navy’s nuclear-powered submarines. The Navy also employs warships. See the 11 new warships that will join the U.S. Navy fleet.
Following the E-6B, the F-35C Lightning II comes in at a cost of $102.6 million. Its primary roles are ground missions and providing air superiority. The aircraft is also the first radar-evading stealth plane that can be launched from a carrier deck, per the Navy.
Rounding out the top three is the $89.4 million C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft. As its name suggests, it is used for passenger and cargo transport and aerial refueling. The Navy describes the medium-sized aircraft as providing “the last logistic mile” to support forward deployed Naval forces. Are any of these planes among the 22 new weapons in the U.S. military budget next year?
Click here to see the most expensive planes made for the US Navy.
Source: Public Domain / Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
15. T-34C Turbomentor Training Aircraft
> Est. unit cost in 2022: $1.1 million
> US Navy inventory: 13
> Aircraft’s primary function: Pilot proficiency, low safe mission, and other aircraft support services for the fleet
> Primary contractor(s): Raytheon Aircraft Company
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Source: Public Domain / Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
14. UC-12 Huron Logistics Aircraft
> Est. unit cost in 2022: $6.9 million
> US Navy inventory: 13
> Aircraft’s primary function: Light passenger and cargo airlift
> Primary contractor(s): Raytheon Aircraft Company
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Source: Public Domain / Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
13. T-45C Goshawk Training Aircraft
> Est. unit cost in 2022: $18.5 million
> US Navy inventory: 191
> Aircraft’s primary function: Training platform for Navy/Marine Corps pilots
> Primary contractor(s): The Boeing Company
Source: my_public_domain_photos / Flickr
12. F-16A/B Fighting Falcon Fighter
> Est. unit cost in 2022: $26.7 million
> US Navy inventory: 14
> Aircraft’s primary function: Adversary fighter
> Primary contractor(s): General Dynamics Corp., and Lockheed Martin
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Source: Public Domain / Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
11. F/A-18 A-D Hornet
> Est. unit cost in 2022: $32.9 million
> US Navy inventory: 68
> Aircraft’s primary function: Multi-role attack and fighter aircraft
> Primary contractor(s): The Boeing Company
Source: Public Domain / Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
10. C-20 Gulfstream Logistics Aircraft
> Est. unit cost in 2022: $42.6 million
> US Navy inventory: 3
> Aircraft’s primary function: Worldwide passenger and cargo airlift
> Primary contractor(s): Gulfstream Aerospace and M7 Aerospace
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Source: Public Domain / Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
9. C-2A Greyhound Logistics Aircraft
> Est. unit cost in 2022: $43.4 million
> US Navy inventory: 33
> Aircraft’s primary function: Carrier On-board Delivery (COD) aircraft
> Primary contractor(s): Northrop Grumman
Source: Public Domain / Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
8. EA-18G Growler Airborne Electronic Attack Aircraft
> Est. unit cost in 2022: $72.8 million
> US Navy inventory: 153
> Aircraft’s primary function: Airborne Electronic Attack
> Primary contractor(s): The Boeing Company
Source: Public Domain / Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
7. UC-35 Citation
> Est. unit cost in 2022: $73.4 million
> US Navy inventory: 0
> Aircraft’s primary function: Passenger and cargo airlift
> Primary contractor(s): DynCorps; Valair and Pratt & Whitney.
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Source: Public Domain / Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
6. C-37A (Gulfstream V) and C/NC-37B (Gulfstream 550)
> Est. unit cost in 2022: $73.6 million
> US Navy inventory: 0
> Aircraft’s primary function: Passenger transport
> Primary contractor(s): CLS – Gulfstream
5. F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
> Est. unit cost in 2022: $76.4 million
> US Navy inventory: 566
> Aircraft’s primary function: Multi-role attack and fighter aircraft.
> Primary contractor(s): The Boeing Company
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4. E-2 Hawkeye Airborne Command and Control Aircraft
> Est. unit cost in 2022: $86.9 million
> US Navy inventory: 97
> Aircraft’s primary function: Airborne Command and Control, Battle Space Management
> Primary contractor(s): Northrop Grumman
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Source: gsmudger / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
3. C-130 Hercules Military Transport Aircraft
> Est. unit cost in 2022: $89.4 million
> US Navy inventory: 28
> Aircraft’s primary function: Aerial refueling, tactical passenger and cargo airlift
> Primary contractor(s): Lockheed Martin
2. F-35C Lightning II
> Est. unit cost in 2022: $102.6 million
> US Navy inventory: 26
> Aircraft’s primary function: Multirole: ground attack, air superiority
> Primary contractor(s): Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and BAE Systems
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Source: Public Domain / Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
1. E-6B Mercury Airborne Command Post
> Est. unit cost in 2022: $153.9 million
> US Navy inventory: 16
> Aircraft’s primary function: Communications relay for fleet ballistic missile submarines (A and B models) and airborne command post for U.S. Strategic forces (B model)
> Primary contractor(s): The Boeing Company
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