The US F-35 stealth fighter fleet has a readiness problem that 6 years and over $12 billion haven't fixed, watchdog finds

• F-35 stealth combatant jets person been failing to meet mission-capable rates, a watchdog reports.
• This has been nan lawsuit for six years contempt complete $12 cardinal connected operations and maintenance, nan GAO found.
• A defense charismatic said nan programme and DoD must proceed moving to amended combat readiness.

The US military's F-35 stealth fighters person grounded to meet readiness goals for six years straight, contempt nan complete $12 cardinal spent connected operations and maintenance, according to a authorities watchdog report.

The caller study published Monday comes arsenic nan US subject continues its efforts to make nan precocious fifth-generation combatant pitchy manufactured by Lockheed Martin a quarterback for American combat power.

For its study connected US tactical aviation readiness, nan Government Accountability Office, an independent legislature watchdog agency, analyzed really good US craft met their desired mission-capable rates successful fiscal years 2018 done 2023.

An aircraft's mission-capable complaint is nan percent of full clip erstwhile nan level tin alert and execute astatine slightest 1 mission. Per nan GAO, nan mission-capable rates measurement nan wellness and readiness of a subject craft fleet for a imaginable conflict.

The GAO said nan F-35A, nan combatant version utilized by nan US Air Force, "did not meet its ngo tin goals successful immoderate of nan years we reviewed." The GAO besides recovered nan F-35B and F-35C variants, utilized by nan Marine Corps and Navy, grounded to meet their goals complete each six years arsenic well.

That's contempt complete $12 cardinal spent connected operations and attraction and efforts to amended nan wide readiness of nan F-35.

Other craft that grounded to gathering their goals each six years included nan F-22 Raptor, EA-18G Growler, F/A-18 A-D Hornets, AV-8B Harrier, and F-15E Strike Eagle. The F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets, F-16D, F-15D and A-10 Warthog only met their goals 1 year, while nan F-16C and F-15C deed it 3 years retired of six.

The GAO said that "none of nan 15 tactical craft variants met their ngo tin goals successful fiscal twelvemonth 2023."

The watchdog study said that for nan F-35, $7.46 cardinal for nan Air Force, $2.75 cardinal for nan Marine Corps, and $1.87 cardinal for nan Navy was spent connected operations and maintenance, pinch yearly spending successful this area increasing substantially betwixt 2018 and 2023 and services successful immoderate cases utilizing much money than was initially requested.

In consequence to nan GAO report, Lt. Gen. Mike Schmidt, head and programme executive serviceman of nan F-35 Joint Program Office, told Business Insider that "the F-35 is proven successful combat and performing for 14 subject services astir nan world today."

"As nan cornerstone of nan early combatant fleet," he said, "the F-35 enables nan warfighter to predominate nan skies successful nan astir challenging combat environments against nan world's astir tin adversaries."

Schmidt said that his agency is moving pinch nan Pentagon and manufacture partners to amended nan mission-capable rates, noting that erstwhile spare parts and repair materials are available, rates thin to beryllium higher.

"With this successful mind, I americium not satisfied pinch our readiness coming — and our squad is doing everything successful its powerfulness to thrust readiness to levels our users expect," he said.

The F-35 was built arsenic a low-observable associated onslaught combatant capable to prosecute successful ground-attack, maritime-strike, and air-combat missions and besides coordinate American firepower arsenic a high-end networked sensor. Coming successful 3 variants, location is nan F-35A pinch a cannon, nan short takeoff/vertical landing F-35B, and carrier-based F-35C. A number of US friends and partners run variants of nan jet.

But nan pitchy has been mired pinch ballooning costs and readiness problems for years, pinch a GAO study earlier this twelvemonth revealing that nan availability of nan craft has dropped arsenic nan afloat life-cycle of nan F-35 has grown, topping $2 trillion.