Lockheed said in a statement that the increase in production this marks, "enables us to reduce costs by taking advantage of economies of scale and production efficiencies." For those who haven't been reading us regularly, the statement also says that the president's "personal involvement in the F-35 program accelerated the negotiations and sharpened our focus on driving down the price."

Lockheed Martin has promised the F-35A will drop below $85 million by 2019. And the leader of the F-35 Joint Program Office, Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, has promised it will hit between $80 million and $85 million for the plane and its engines. The engines are technically a separate program. The latest costs include the engine and assorted other costs.

One area where the F-35 is still expensive? The cost per hour to fly, which over the lifetime of the plane can amount to more than the plane itself.