Less than 30 per cent of US F-35 Lightning II fifth-generation fighters are fully operational

The Ministry of Defence is once again experiencing problems with its fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighters. Less than a third of the planes are fully operational.

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Lockheed Martin has handed over 540 aircraft to the US military, compared to a total of more than 900 to all customers. Lieutenant General Michael Schmidt of the US Air Force said that only 53.1 per cent of the F-35s could perform combat missions, as of February 2023. He called this figure unsatisfactory. It should be increased by 10% in the coming months.

However, Schmidt stressed that we are talking about only a portion of the missions, including combat/demonstration sorties, tests and training. The target readiness of the F-35 Lightning II is 65%. However, less than 30% of the fifth-generation fighters are fully ready to perform any task.

The reasons for the decline in fighter readiness in 2023 are not specified. From 2020 to 2022 the figure fell from 69% to 65% due to a shortage of spare parts for the F-35 Lightning II. Another problem has been the frequent failure of individual Pratt & Whitney F135 engine components.

Source: Bloomberg