According to a Tuesday revelation by the Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, the force’s plan to begin the use the Pentagon’s marquee fighter jet, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, will likely be delayed by two years; thereby leading to “significantly more” costs that initially projected.

Clearly the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons system, the F-35, also called the F-35 Lightning II, has largely been hyped as a vital component of the US military’s future strategy; to be made available to the Air Force, the Navy, and the Marine Corps, and nine US allies.

Updating the reporters about the delay, Donley said that the F-35, which was scheduled to become operational for the Air Force in 2013, will likely not be ready for the service till 2015 – owing to some ‘serious’ contract-related issues discovered by the Pentagon.

The hiccups seemingly began last month when Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he would dismiss Marine Maj. Gen. David R. Heinz, the executive officer overseeing the development of the F-35; and withhold $614 million in performance bonuses from the program’s lead contractor, Lockheed Martin of Bethesda.

However, Gates had reiterated that there were “no insurmountable problems, technological or otherwise, with the F-35.”

Meanwhile, about the “concerning” increase in the F-35’s price-tag, Richard Aboulafia, defense industry analyst at the Teal Group in Fairfax County, said that the cost to build each of the planes will now be $65-$70 million.