Essay | Joint Strike Fighter : How to Build a Better Fighter with Less Money

In 1939 Great Britain was in desperate need of a fighter that had the ability to escort bombers deep into enemy territory. In response to this need, North American Aviation developed what would become known as the P-51 Mustang. Between the years of 1940-1945 North American Aviation manufactured over 15,000 North American P-51 Mustangs for both Great Britain and the United States. Over the span of just six years, North American designed, tested and produced enough P-51 Mustangs to change the course of the air war in Europe (MustangMustangs). At a cost of about $500,000 for each Mustang in 2002 dollars (remember, these are just basic propeller driven airplanes with a machine gun), it is no surprise that defense spending during these years was approximately 90% of the total federal budget (Cordesman, 1999). Today, defense spending makes up about 15%...
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