F-35 stealth fighters have not reached training goals in six years: report published

It is reported that more than 12 billion dollars.

In six years, the U.S. military's F-35 stealth fighters have not met their training goals, despite spending more than $12 billion on their operation and maintenance. Business Insider writes about this with reference to the report of the government oversight body – the US Accounting Chamber.

It is noted that this report analyzed how well American aircraft achieved the desired indicators of mission readiness in the fiscal years from 2018 to 2023.

“The indicator of the aircraft's readiness to perform a mission is the percentage of the total time when the aircraft can fly and perform at least one mission,” the publication specifies.

The analysis found that the F-35A, used by the US Air Force, “did not meet its mission readiness goals in any of the years reviewed,” as did the F-35B and F-35C variants used by the Marine Corps and Navy.

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According to the newspaper, other aircraft that did not meet their goals in 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, F-15D and A-10 Warthog achieved their goals in just one year, while the F-16C and F-15C – in three years out of six.

In addition, the analysis emphasizes that “none of the 15 tactical aircraft options met their mission objectives in fiscal year 2023”.

Commenting on the report, the executive director of the F-35 Joint Program Office, General Lt. Mike Schmidt said, “The F-35 is combat-proven and in service with 14 military services around the world”:

“As the cornerstone of the future fighter fleet, the F-35 enables the fighter to dominate the skies in the toughest combat environments against the world's toughest adversaries.”

The general said his office is working with the Pentagon and industry partners to improve mission readiness rates. However, he added that with availability of spare parts and repair materials, rates are generally higher.

“With that said, I am not satisfied with our readiness today and our team is doing everything possible to improve readiness to the levels our users expect,” Schmidt said.