Topic: less than a third of F-35s built by Lockheed Martin are operationally capable!

[patentlymn]

https://twitter.com/RepMattGaetz/status/1780627938829848652
Rep. Matt Gaetz
@RepMattGaetz
BREAKING: U.S. Air Force Secretary ADMITS that less than a third of F-35s built by Lockheed Martin are operationally capable!

The Pentagon has given too much power to the defense contractors that are bilking American taxpayers.

It’s not going to get better unless we demand accountability.

[Libertas]

At least the F-22 had a much better maintenance record, could stay in the air...and even now could still be the foremost Gen5 plane on the planet...

The F-35 benefitted from early gate-stumbling of the Boeing X-32 when the RFP's went out for the JSF...the X-32 had a funky unsexy profile, a difficult wing configuration...F-35 basically won by default and why there were no other players (there were I think 5 when the F-22 was selected as ATF winner) I dunno.  There should have been more competition, collaboration...something.

[patentlymn]

I recall that the F-35 costs were kept down (they were well over budget) by signing a contract that did not include receiving the means to repair the planes inside the US military. Seemed like getting a cheaper car by agreeing only to use the dealer service centers.

That may be very inaccurate but I later heard that a high percent of planes could not fly.

[patentlymn]

https://t.me/Slavyangrad/95309
F-35s are one third combat ready.

The F-35 Lightning II (F-35) is the most ambitious and expensive weapons system of the US Department of Defense. It is legally established that the GAO (Government Accountability Office) annually monitors the status of the F-35 program. These reports contain interesting data.

The US Department of Defense's projected costs for maintaining the F-35 fleet through 2088 continue to rise. In particular, maintenance cost estimates increased by 44%, from ~$1.1 trillion. in 2018 to ~$1.58 trillion. in 2023.

Annual operating and maintenance costs for each aircraft are now estimated at $6.8 million. This is still significantly higher than the reported $4.1 million.

The overall combat readiness (the percentage of time an aircraft can perform at least one of its assigned missions) of the F-35 fleet has declined significantly over the past five years, and none of the aircraft variants are meeting targets. The rate of full combat readiness (the percentage of time during which the aircraft can perform all assigned tasks) also decreased from 2022 to 2023 for all three options. The F-35A's full combat capability rate (for the Air Force) fell from 43.5% to 36.4% . The F-35B (the Marine Corps STOVL version) saw a decrease from 16% to 14.9%. The F-35C (the carrier-based variant used by the Marines and Navy) saw a decline in overall combat readiness from 20.9% to 19.2%.

The report notes that since 2014, the GAO has issued 43 recommendations to the Pentagon on financial optimization of the F-35 program. Although the Ministry agreed with many of these recommendations and implemented some of them, thirty recommendations (about 70%) remain unimplemented.

The Department of Defense is pursuing cost-saving efforts and continues to look for new ways to reduce costs. However, GAO estimates that these efforts are unlikely to fundamentally change the cost of operating the aircraft.