Il watchdog statunitense afferma che gli F-35 hanno volato la metà del tempo nel 2024 a causa di problemi di manutenzione della Lockheed
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/pentagon-watchdog-criticizes-lockheed-f-35-maintenance-failures-bloomberg-news-2025-12-23/
di ForTheGloryOfAmn
13 commenti
I remember a belgian minister being happy with 3 out of 4 planes, it looks like they got only 2 out of 4…
The European stealth fighters fly 0% of the time
F35 is still the best fighter out there and we STILL have not gotten our shit together for an European new-gen fighter to replace it.
Maybe after the Americans attack…
>According to the report, the average availability rate of F-35s was 50% because “(the Pentagon) did not always hold Lockheed Martin accountable for poor performance related to F-35 sustainment.”
Sounds like a simple solution, just force Lockheed to provide better sustainment support.
Careful the F35 brigade comes out in force on any negative posts of the F35
Military availability and maintenance is nuanced. Is the NH90 a bad product because some countries said so? It’s hard to say, because others operate them still and don’t report the same issues.
Is the F-35 a bad product because Lockheed has maintenance issues in the US? It’s entirely possible that European F-35s, service in purpose-built European facilities, don’t have the same issues.
And they expect Canada to buy this crap over the Swedish alternative? Ha ha ha…
Typical (USAF F16/F15) uptimes are 60-70%, while the F22/F35 are more like 50%-60%. So yeah 50% is a little lower than the pentagon’s 2/3rds requirement. Still the most capable jet there is and at least it’s being reported. Maybe they can make Lockheed pay a penalty.
That’s just how things are when no other country aside from China makes an alternative. You could say the same thing about a lot of American tech companies. There’s simply a lack of competition.
If the US F-35 fleet is getting shafted (The most important fleet to Lockheed), god knows how bad the F-35s in Europe are faring.
The jet that ate the DoD.
And then, you have Greek Rafales close to 90% operational availability with a very small fleet.
[https://www.latribune.fr/article/defense-aerospatiale/defense/1270008425724315/pourquoi-les-rafale-de-dassault-seduisent-autant-larmee-de-lair-grecque](https://www.latribune.fr/article/defense-aerospatiale/defense/1270008425724315/pourquoi-les-rafale-de-dassault-seduisent-autant-larmee-de-lair-grecque)
I’m not sure what Air Forces are going to learn from the F-35 and technology, but I assume it may be steep. I hope they figure this out before they are needed for real continuous combat.
I’m Belgian and our buffoon Defense minister bought these expensive malfunctioning planes instead of Rafales or Saabs, which would have strengthened our European industry.
Just because on the cart it says it’s the best, doesn’t mean it’s the best purchase.
Especially if purchase and maintenance are so expensive, while Lockheed is so unreliable (and so is the US tbh).