US report: Half of the F35 stealth fighters cannot fly due to thousands of technical issues
A US government report revealed that half of the US F35 stealth fighters require $1.3 trillion to be able to fly, even though it’s assumed that these planes have already entered service.
The report, issued by the US Government Accountability Office, last Thursday, said that the combat readiness rate of the F35 fleet reached 55% last March, indicating that it’s much lower than the rate that is supposed to be reached.
The current levels of the F35 fighters’ fleet are unacceptable, as there is a delay behind schedule due to 10,000 technical problems that are being fixed.
The report continued, “There is a delay in repair operations due to the lack of training and technical data, and the most prominent problems facing the plane are related to its cannon, the ejector seat, and the drivers and devices for its operation”.
According to the report, the budget set by the US Department of Defense to spend on the stealth aircraft program in the future amounts to $1.7 trillion, indicating that the majority of this amount will go to maintenance and operation.
The F35 joint fighter jet has faced many problems since its development, in addition to being exposed to devastating accidents, the last of which was the crash of one of them in South Carolina.
The United States spent a huge budget on the F35 program to be the spearhead of its air force in the future, but the performance of the aircraft in the US army and in the countries that use it didn’t achieve the minimum goals that were set for the aircraft.
Washington tried to market the F35 globally as a fighter with superior capabilities, but the massive losses that resulted from the crash of large numbers of them before fighting a single battle may make their fate in the aircraft graveyard.
Currently, there are 3 versions of the F35 fighters: the F35A, which is designated for the Air Force and is designed for conventional take-off and landing, the F35B, which is designed for short take-off and vertical landing, and the F35C, which is designed for short take-off and vertical landing, vertical take-off and landing of aircraft carriers.
