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Pentagon paints a grim picture of the F-35 despite them entering combat operations

An F-35B aircraft approaches a KC-130J Super Hercules aircraft to re-fuel as it flies over the North Sea having taken off from RAF Fairford on July 1, 2016 in Gloucestershire, England. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

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The latest Pentagon assessment of the F-35 program has reached the media, and with the long-delayed fighter finally entering combat operations with the Marine Corps late last year, one would think the report would offer some good news for the most advanced fighter on the planet. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. In fact, those first F-35s to carry an American flag into combat operations are among the worst off of any.

According to the report, which Bloomberg first gained access to, the first batch of Marine Corps F-35Bs are actually plagued with structural issues that promise to limit their operational lifespans to just 2,100 flight hours, or about one-fourth the service lifetime expected of them. When America first took delivery of F-15s and F-16s, for instance, they were also both rated for 8,000 and 9,000 flight hour lifespans, respectively.

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  • Daniel

    LoL! What a shock. The varient that caused all the problems, is a problem. Oh my goodness, if only someone would have seen that coming.
    I wonder what replacing and expanding the decks, or refitting, and repurposing older carriers, to accodate the better performing F-35C would have been in comparison?
    Btw, can we drive this lemon back to the lot, and get our money back?

  • Mason

    Thanks Alex, was waiting on this. Read it first at the WarZone, and just like I thought, figured you would agree with Tyler’s synopsis, and of course all of these issues with “concurrency”, ALIS, targeting are still the biggest problem areas. So the media blitz to make it look like it was making progress, was just a page from Russian braggadocio in regards to new systems. All eye candy, no substance. Granted, later Blocks will have mitigated many of these issues, but as you point out, and the original sources do, that leaves us with 160 to 190 “fighters” at an average of 80 mil apiece that will never fight, and won’t even be good as trainers. So our entire F-22 fleet, was replicated by the first F-35’s, but for naught, as the first run of F-35’s are pricey somewhat kinda sorta, might be trainers. Where can I get a job that I am allowed to blow billions on the first run, deliver barely functional prototypes, and bilk the taxpayer/service in the process . . . easy job man, easy.