A lack of spare parts keeps half of US F-35s from flying, senior officers acknowledge – By Jamie McIntyre (washingtonexaminer.com) / March 7 2018
The Air Force, Navy, and Marines acknowledged to Congress Wednesday that on any given day half of their top-of-the-line F-35 joint strike fighters can’t fly because the services lack the spare parts and maintenance facilities to do even minor repairs.
The F-35 is the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons program ever, with a total price tag of more than $400 billion.
But while the cost of the individual jets is coming down, dropping below $100 million a plane for the Air Force version, the spiraling cost of operations and maintenance has raised alarm bells on Capitol Hill.
Almost 60 percent of the older model jets are down for repairs, while newer models have a more respectable 70 percent availability rate, according to the congressional testimony.
Vice Adm. Mat Winter, who oversees the F-35 program for the Pentagon, told the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces that his “first and foremost priority” is to get spare parts to the warfighters on the flight line, and that the current budget funds more than doubling the number repair depots from 28 to more than 60.
Winter said there are more than 3,000 subsystems on the F-35 for which there is a backlog of spare parts, everything from simple tires to sophisticated avionics and thermal management systems.
Part of the problem was a lack of funds, as the Pentagon chafed under spending limits. But witnesses admitted that another part was also a lack of foresight.
“I would love to share the blame with Congress,” said Lt. Gen. Jerry Harris, deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements for the Air Force, “but it’s partially us sitting here.
We were late in standing up our depots to actually turn and fix those parts.”
All three services use a version of the F-35. The Air Force has the standard model, while the Navy has a variant with a tailhook to land on aircraft carriers, and the Marines have a short take-off and vertical landing version for use on smaller amphibious assault ships.
