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The 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) is the first Marine unit to deploy with F-35B's on a combat deployment.

Estimated to cost $350 billion, the F-35 program has been the most expensive fighter in U.S. military history.

The Pentagon plans to buy more than 2,600 of the aircraft as it becomes the main fighter aircraft for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. The Air Force will receive most of the aircraft, the Navy version will be specifically designed to take off and land on aircraft carriers.

Lockheed Martin, the defense contractor that makes the F-35, expects that per unit costs of the aircraft will go down more of the aircraft are produced. Currently the Air Force version of the aircraft costs $94 million.

The program has been beset by costly delays mainly involving its advanced technologies.

The fifth-generation fighter includes advanced stealth technology, as well as advanced computers and avionics that enable the aircraft to remain airborne.

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