The US Armed Forces operate approximately 550 F-35s of all versions.
The US Government Accountability Office in its report revealed the number of combat-ready F-35 fighters in the US Army. We are talking about half of the total number of aircraft.
The publication Breaking Defense writes about this.
According to the report, as of March 2023, only 55% of the fifth generation F-35 fighters were capable of performing combat missions. At the same time, the target combat effectiveness of the F-35A is 90%, and for the F-35B version (short take-off, vertical landing), as well as the deck version of the F-35C – 85%. Note that it is estimated that about 550 F-35s of all versions are already in operation across the entire US Armed Forces.
Such a low percentage is associated with systematic maintenance problems. We are talking about a lack of military repair capacity, an insufficient number of spare parts and a high dependence on contractors.
As of March 2023, there were more than 10 thousand parts awaiting repair. And although, according to the plan, 65% of parts were to be repaired in military areas, now the Pentagon sends 73% of all components to manufacturers, which takes twice as long.
An additional problem was created by the fact that manufacturers are not very active in sharing technical information that is necessary to repair the hardware and maintain the software.
Another difficult point was that there are 14 versions of the F-35 aircraft, which have certain differences. This complicates logistics and maintenance.
Recall that Germany plans to purchase 35 American F-35 fighter jets.
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