At Taxpayers for Common Sense, we’ve been talking for years about the high costs of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. It’s the most expensive procurement program in Pentagon history – itself a gobsmacking statistic for a single-engine tactical aircraft.

But on top of the stunning long-term costs of the program, because it’s the sustainment costs that will kill a budget, the Congress has never been content to allow the three military services who fly the F-35 to buy them at their preferred pace. Instead, spurred on by the wide and deep supplier community putting pressure on their local lawmakers, the Appropriations Committees have consistently increased the buy for the last several years.

This year’s request for Procurement and Advance Procurement clocks in at just over $8 billion for 61 airframes in three varieties: conventional, carrier-based, and short-takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL).

You can bet Congress will be eager to add more airframes because $8 billion couldn’t possibly be enough to spend on just one aircraft program (groan). Check back as we follow the bouncing topline throughout the budget process.