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Najnoviji izvestaj GAO, koji prati evoluciju programa F-35 i pratecih troskova.
Troskovi se povecavaju, ukupan broj casova naleta se smanjuje, a i dalje ima problema sa borbenom spremnoscu flote.
However, DOD's projected costs for sustaining the F-35 continue to increase while planned use of the aircraft declines. Specifically:
Sustainment cost estimates have increased 44 percent, from $1.1 trillion in 2018 to $1.58 trillion in 2023.
DOD's planned use of the F-35 and its availability have decreased. The Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps project they will fly the F-35 less than originally estimated on an annual basis. The F-35 fleet's overall availability has trended downward considerably over the past 5 years, and none of the variants of the aircraft (i.e., the F-35A, F-35B, and F-35C) are meeting availability goals.
The Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps' have made progress in meeting their affordability targets (i.e., the amount of money they project they can afford to spend per aircraft per year for operating the aircraft). This is due in part to the reduction in planned flight hours, and because the Air Force increased the amount of money it projects it can afford to spend. DOD currently estimates the Air Force will pay $6.6 million annually to operate and sustain an individual aircraft. This continues to be well above the $4.1 million original target. In June 2023, the Air Force increased the amount of money it can afford to spend per F-35 aircraft to $6.8 million per year.
--In the 2020 Annual Cost Estimate, the F-35 Joint
Program Office reported that the F-35 fleet would fly 382,376 hours per year at
steady state—roughly the mid-2030s. In the 2023 Annual Cost Estimate, the F35 Joint Program Office reported revised estimated steady state flight hours of
300,524—a reduction of almost 82,000 flight hours per year, or 21 percent.
Mission capable rates: F-35A - 51.9%, F-35B - 59.7%, F-35C - 61.9%
Full mission capable rates: F-35A - 36.4%, F-35B - 14.9%, F-35C - 19.2%
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