Assembly is done by humans.. but then comes the topic of labour productivity.. which is generally much higher in Europe and North America than Asia...
estimated costs of a jet fighter from a caste study...
Cheetah 786: main cost component is materials.. not labour...
MORE INFORMATION
The F-22 Raptor is the Air Force's newest jet fighter, entering operational service on Dec. 15, 2005, at Langley Air Force Base, Va.
The F-22 by the numbers
Crew: 1
Length: 62 feet, 1 inch
Height: 16 feet, 8 inches
Wingspan: 44 feet, 6 inches
Maximum speed: Mach 2-plus (more than 1,300 miles per hour)
Ceiling: above 50,000 feet
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofans with afterburners and thrust-vectoring nozzles
Thrust: 35,000 lbs. each
Armament: 20-mm. cannon with 480 rounds, 2 Sidewinder heat-seeking missiles, 6 AMRAAM radar-guided missiles or 2 1,000-lb. satellite-guided bombs and 2 AMRRAM missiles
Manufacturing team: Lockheed-Martin and Boeing
Source: U.S. Air Force
HOW MUCH IS THAT BIRD?
The F-22 Raptor is the most expensive jet fighter ever built. It is the first of the so-called fifth generation of jet fighters built since the final days of World War II. Each generation has been an improvement over its predecessor in aerodynamics, speed, engines, electronics or armament. The cost of the best American fighter of World War II, the piston-engined P-51 Mustang, is included for comparison.
Costs are for the aircraft, engine and electronics and do not include research, development, testing and other costs. Shown are the original cost of each plane. The second figure factors in inflation to show how much it might cost in today's dollars.
Aircraft: P-51 Mustang (World War II)
Year entered service: 1940
Number built: 14,855
Maximum Speed: 437 mph
Original cost: $54,000
Cost in today's dollars: $599,000
Aircraft: F-80 Shooting Star (1st U.S. jet fighter)
Year entered service: 1945
Number built: 1,731
Maximum Speed: 580 mph
Original cost: $93,456
Cost in today's dollars: $1 million
Aircraft: F-86 Sabre (Korean War)
Year entered service: 1948
Number built: more than 5,500
Maximum Speed: 685 mph
Original cost: $178,000
Cost in today's dollars: $1.44 million
Aircraft: F-100 Super Sabre (Cold War)
Year entered service: 1953
Number built: 2,294
Maximum Speed: 864 mph
Original cost: $664,000
Cost in today's dollars: $4.86 million
Aircraft: F-104 Starfighter (Cold War)
Year entered service: 1958
Number built: 2,536
Maximum Speed: 1,450 mph
Original cost: $2.98 million
Cost in today's dollars: $20 million
Aircraft: F-4 Phantom II (Vietnam)
Year entered service: 1960
Number built: 5,195
Maximum Speed: 1,600 mph
Original cost: $18.4 million
Cost in today's dollars: $56 million
Aircraft: F-15 Eagle (Desert Storm)
Year entered service: 1972
Number built: more than 1,300
Maximum Speed: 1,875 mph
Original cost: * $29.9 million
Cost in today's dollars: $36.4 million
Aircraft: F-16 Fighting Falcon
Year entered service: 1979
Number built: 2,200
Maximum Speed: 1,500 mph
Original cost: * $18.8 million
Cost in today's dollars: $22.9 million
Aircraft: F-22 Raptor
Year entered service: 2005
Number built: 62 (183 anticipated)
Maximum speed: more than 1,300 mph
Original cost: $133 million
Cost in today's dollars: $133 million
* Original cost is based on 1998 dollars.
Source: U.S. Air Force, GlobalSecurity.org, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Malang iam not going to get into a discussion with you about labour costs or material cost but look above and what a jet fighter cost to build then and now.material costs increase cause of labour cost more to produce them.The reasons south asians countries economies are booming cause it cost less to hire people to do the same work there then in west.
Material cost money to produce more today then yesterday as labour costs have gone up.