Elon Musk Vs The F-35: Why He Wants The US To Drop The Legendary Jet

An F-35 in flight.

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In November 2024, Elon Musk — CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and now leader of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency – shared a video on his social platform X that featured a coordinated drone swarm and the text, “Meanwhile, some idiots are still building manned fighter jets like the F-35.”

As if to make his feelings about the already-controversial F-35 program unambiguous, Musk stated in a subsequent X post that F-35 designers demanded too much from the fifth-generation fighter jet, requiring it to be too many things. Moreover, he said, manned fighters are obsolete now that drones are so prevalent. “Will just get pilots killed.”

Musk is often lauded as a visionary who can see projects’ flaws and merits clearly, and to an extent, he’s correct about the F-35 Lightning II having some issues. The F-35 has suffered some crashes, which isn’t a good look. In fact, as recently as Jan. 28 a pilot was forced to eject from his F-35 at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska after experiencing a malfunction during a training exercise. Another F-35 crashed in New Mexico while en route to a California base in May of 2024.

The Lightning II program also has been marred by delays and a ballooned price tag – now estimated to exceed $2 trillion – and Musk added on X, “… let us stop the worst military value for money in history that is the F-35 program!” But Lockheed Martin’s F-35 isn’t without its merits. Or defenders.

The F-35 is undeniably advanced

An F-35 surrounded by water vapor.

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When experts say the F-35 is the most advanced fighter jet, they’re not just parroting a marketing campaign. Lockheed Martin builds three variants of the F-35. The Air Force exclusively uses the F-35A, which takes off and lands conventionally, while the Marines operate the F-35B, a variant capable of vertical takeoff and landing. The Navy, meanwhile, uses the F-35C, a version with larger wings and stronger landing gear for aircraft-carrier operations. All three versions are built with advanced sensors that feed the pilot situational data, stealth technology that help hide the plane, and electronic warfare capabilities.

This fighter jet serves as the hub of a combat zone due to instruments that let pilots coordinate with sea, air, and ground forces. China has had little success trying to replicate the F-35. Its new J-20 fighter jet only has one advantage over the F-35 — China’s ability to mass-produce the plane at an exceptional rate.

The U.S. is the biggest F-35 purchaser, ordering 2,456 of the jet’s three variants, but it’s not the jet’s only customer. There are 19 nations in the Joint Strike Fighter Program and Lockheed Martin has delivered more than 1,060 F-35s, with more on order. Israel has had considerable success with its F-35s. One mission saw Israeli pilots fly their F-35I Adir fighters almost 1,000 miles, and evade and eliminate Iranian air defenses without losing a single aircraft, proving the aircraft’s worth in the modern day.

Can Musk do anything about the F-35?

Elon Musk looking up.

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Elon Musk was already in a strong position with President Donald Trump before election results were in, acting as a surrogate for Trump on the campaign trail, as well as donating $250 million to his campaign. Now Musk has a more official role within the U.S. government. As the head of DOGE – which is tasked with modernizing federal technology as well as helping the government function more efficiently — Musk says he intends to put an end to government waste. However, wanting to cut a program and actually doing it are two separate things, with the latter considerably more challenging.

The defense budget goes through Congress and appropriations have already been made. It would be an uphill battle getting enough members of Congress to agree to cut the F-35 program. Musk can make a recommendation to the newly inaugurated president, but if Trump tries to hold back money for the F-35, Congress could fight it in court.

U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., disputed Musk’s F-35 claims, telling Phoenix TV station ABC15, “I understand Elon Musk’s point that over time, drone and drone technology is going to be increasingly important, but the suggestion that we should eliminate the F-35 program and manned Air Force flights … is wrong-headed.”

Danny Seiden, CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, added: “President Donald Trump has shown a lot of support for the F-35 in the past. We believe he’ll show it again.”