This article is published in Aerospace Daily & Defense Report part of Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN), and is complimentary through Oct 29, 2024. For information on becoming an AWIN Member to access more content like this, click here.
U.S. Air Force F-35As and an F-16 fly over Luke AFB, Arizona, in January.
The U.S. military’s tactical fighter fleets have largely not met mission capable rate targets in recent years, despite high levels of spending to try to keep the aircraft ready, a new watchdog report says.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in a report released Oct. 21 found the bulk of the aircraft across the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy have fallen far short of readiness targets from 2018-2023, although collectively the services have executed $57.2 billion in operations and maintenance spending.
Notably, the Pentagon’s new F-35 fleet did not meet any of its mission-capable targets over the six-year span. This includes the Air Force’s A variant along with the Marine Corps B variant and the Navy’s C variant. The Navy’s Super Hornet and Growler fleets also did not meet mission-capable targets over that span, along with the Marine Corps Hornets and AV-8B Harriers.
The Air Force was the only service to meet the targets over the span. F-15Cs and F-16Cs met targets three out of the six years, while A-10s, F-15Ds and F-16Ds met targets once. F-15Es and F-22s did not meet mission capable goals.
While the Air Force was the only service to meet goals some of the time, as a whole the service has seen its mission capable rates drop. The GAO reported that mission capable rates for Navy and Marine Corps aircraft had been increasing, while all Air Force rates had decreased. The report did not provide specific rates.
“Tactical aircraft mission capable rates have generally not met DOD goals for several years,” the report says. “GAO’s prior work and agency officials attribute this shortage to numerous interrelated, complex factors, such as aging aircraft, maintenance challenges, and supply support issues.”
In fiscal 2023, the Air Force reported mission capable rates of 33% for its F-15C, 54.6% for the F-15D, 54.7% for the F-15E, 85.1% for the F-15EX, 69.3% for the F-16C, 51.9% for the F-22 and 51.9% for the F-35, according to statistics obtained by Aviation Week. Navy and Marine Corps figures were not available.
Related Content
