Nope. But if people bothered to look at the detail they would notice that the fly away cost is still tracking at around $40 million in FY02 Then Year Dollars (TYD).
Slight confusion. IN US budgeting terminology, "Then Year Dollars" doesn't refer to a fixed, single year. It is the price that is actually paid, year by year, in the prices of that year. E.g. if 200 are bought, split between 100 in Year 1, at $50 mn, & 100 in year 2, at $55 mn, the price of the total order, in "Then Year Dollars" is $52.5 mn.
The 2002 $ prices are "Base Year Dollars", "Base Year" being project-dependent. For the JSF, it is 2002.
The predicted flyaway cost in 2002 dollars, for the basic F-35A (the other variants are more expensive), when full-rate production is in full swing (the first few hundred will be more expensive), had risen to $47 mn by 2006, & has gone up slightly since. In 2007, the costs were reported to have increased
in constant prices of 2002 by 66% since 2001. Flyaway cost has increased less, but still gone up considerably.
To convert base year dollars into prices of other years, use the index
here - scroll down to Section 10 & click on the link. There is no estimate for FY 2014 yet, but 2013 is 29% higher than 2002, using the general GDP index (that's the one they use for calculating the difference: "defense" inflation is used for other purposes, but in any case makes little difference), $40 mn in 2002 prices is 2013 prices is $51.6 mn. Unless we assume an inflation rate of 55% in 2014, it is therefore a mistake to think that $40 mn in 2002$ = $80 mn in 2014$.
$80 mn in 2014 prices, on current US budgeting assumptions, is about $60 mn in 2002 prices, not $40 mn.
That's what you find when you look at the details.
