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The U.S. military's F-35 Lightning II fighters have failed to meet their readiness goals for six consecutive years, according to a recent report from a congressional watchdog.
The Government Accountability Office's Oct. 21 report also determined the F-35's results followed the nation's military spending more than $12 billion to sustain the fifth-generation aircraft.
GAO's report about the U.S. military's tactical aviation readiness additionally found that none of the F-35's three variants met their desired mission-capable rates in fiscal years 2018 through 2023.
The Air Force (F-35A), Navy (F-35C) and Marines (F-35B and F-35C) all operate Lightning II variants.
The fighter — which is built by Lockheed Martin — is known as the "quarterback in the sky" due to its ability to collect and share information with other aircraft and ground units.
There are about 630 F-35s across America's military, per GAO, with plans to buy about 1,800 more.
Air National Guard wings in Alabama, Vermont and Massachusetts operate the F-35A. Guard units in Florida, Massachusetts and Oregon are in Air Force fielding plans for the aircraft.
GAO's report — which was conducted at the request of the House Armed Services Committee — examined operation and maintenance spending and MC rates.
An aircraft's MC rate is the percentage of time the plane can fly and perform at least one mission. It is considered a valuable measure of a military aircraft fleet's health and readiness.
GAO did not include specific MC rates in the public version of the report at the Defense Department's request.
But the Air Force has said its F-35A MC rate was 51.9% in fiscal 2023 — down from prior years and below the service's goal. Officials blamed the decline on a shortage of spare parts and repair materials.
Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt — the head of the F-35 Joint Program Office — told Business Insider in an Oct. 22 article that his agency is collaborating with the Pentagon and industry partners to increase the F-35's MC rates.
"With this in mind, I am not satisfied with our readiness today — and our team is doing everything in its power to drive availability to levels our users expect," he said.
The Air Force has said it aims for an average MC rate of 75-80%.
The three F-35 variants were not the only tactical aircraft that failed to meet their MC rates.
Other aircraft that missed their goals for all six years included the 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 Fighting Falcon, F-15D Eagle and A-10 Thunderbolt II only met their goals during one year, while the F-16C Fighting Falcon and F-15C Eagle hit their goals three years out of six.
The Air Guard flies the A-10, F-15C, F-15D and F-22.
GAO cited "numerous interrelated, complex factors" for the U.S. military’s continuing struggle to maintain its aircraft's MC rates.
One reason is an aging fleet that needs a lot of attention. U.S. military fighters are on average 28 years old. The Air Guard inventory — which has the Air Force’s oldest F-15s and F-16s — is even older.
A shortage of trained maintenance personnel is another issue. The Air Force alone lacks about 1,500 maintainers, per GAO's report.
GAO also mentioned the same supply-support challenges that Air Force officials cited.
The nation's armed forces spent more than $57 billion in O&M funding to operate and sustain tactical aircraft over the six years that GAO's report covered.
— By John Goheen
