F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter Readiness Deteriorates Further
The operational readiness of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter has worsened, with the fleet’s full mission capable rate dropping to 25% by fiscal 2025, a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) disclosed on Thursday.
The report indicates a significant decline in the mission capable rate, which measures the aircraft’s ability to perform at least one of its designated missions. This rate decreased from 67% in fiscal 2021 to 44% in fiscal 2025. Simultaneously, the full mission capable rate, which is the proportion of time the aircraft can perform all its assigned missions, plummeted from 38% to 25% over the same timeframe.
According to Air Force officials, the decline in readiness in fiscal 2025 was partly due to the integration of new jets that were unable to fulfill their missions because of delays in software updates, as well as issues related to part shortages and corrosion, the GAO report detailed.
The GAO described the F-35 as the Department of Defense’s most expensive weapons system, which has consistently failed to meet performance targets while the costs for its upkeep have surged.
Strategic Initiatives to Combat Declining Readiness
In response to the ongoing decline in aircraft readiness, the F-35 Joint Program Office has introduced a strategy known as the Global Support Solution Reset. Launched in June 2025, this initiative targets achieving an 80% mission capable rate and a 65% full mission capable rate by 2030.
However, reaching these targets will require significant financial investment. The Joint Program Office estimates that an additional $13.7 billion will be necessary through fiscal 2031, a sum that will need to be included in the annual budgets requested by the services.
The GSS Reset plan is designed to address several longstanding issues identified by the GAO, including shortages of spare parts, maintenance challenges, and excessive reliance on contractors. Of the total additional investment required, only about $2.2 billion is allocated for the GSS Reset, with the remaining approximately $11.5 billion intended to cover the shortfall between previously budgeted amounts and the actual costs of sustaining the F-35 fleet.
Officials from the Joint Program Office have warned that readiness levels might deteriorate further before any improvement is seen, with significant enhancements not expected until late 2026 or beyond.
The GAO has also outlined multiple risks that could undermine the success of the GSS Reset, noting particularly that over $7 billion in additional parts and materials will need to be supplied by the private sector, which continues to face capacity constraints for critical components.
A 2025 analysis by Lockheed Martin, the primary manufacturer of the F-35, alongside engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, identified 48 components that are in short supply, including canopies—a previously noted major factor in grounding aircraft.
Financial and Performance Challenges Persist
The cost of sustaining the F-35 fleet continues to escalate, posing a risk to the financial feasibility of the Reset plan. By the mid-2030s, the GAO projects an annual funding gap of approximately $1.2 billion between the sustainment costs of the F-35s and what the services can afford. This gap may even widen, as projections made prior to Operation Epic Fury did not account for increased flight hours and associated costs.
Despite incentives aimed at enhancing readiness, the GAO found that these efforts have not yielded the expected improvements. From 2020 to 2023, Lockheed Martin received over $114 million of the available $269 million in incentive fees aimed at improving full mission capable rates and parts availability, yet these metrics have largely stagnated or declined.
Lockheed’s incentive arrangements were often adjusted to account for factors deemed beyond the contractor’s control, such as delays caused by the services, allowing for higher payments than if based solely on unadjusted performance metrics. Pratt & Whitney, on the other hand, has met its engine sustainment targets after addressing issues previously identified by the GAO.
Lockheed Martin has committed to partnering with the Joint Program Office and industry partners to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of F-35 sustainment. The company has already invested over $2 billion in advanced funding to expedite the delivery of spare parts to improve readiness across the fleet.
Meanwhile, the F-35 Joint Program Office has endorsed the GAO’s findings and fully supports the three recommendations made in the report, emphasizing their commitment to achieving the 2030 readiness goals and maintaining strict fiscal accountability.
However, the GAO has identified issues with the consistency of the Joint Program Office’s records on incentive fee payments and noted discrepancies in the formulas used, which did not align with contractual agreements. Consequently, the GAO has urged the Pentagon to adopt risk mitigation strategies, reconsider the structure of contract incentives to possibly include penalties for underperformance, and establish a reliable system for tracking and justifying incentive fee payments.
Despite these challenges, the F-35 remains a central component of America’s air combat capabilities, with the Pentagon operating over 800 jets and planning to acquire around 1,700 more by the mid-2040s. The estimated lifetime sustainment costs for the U.S. fleet stood at $1.6 trillion as of 2024.
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Jamal Peterson reports on defense, aerospace, and tech policy. With a military background and a strategic mind, he dissects complex subjects with clarity, offering readers sharp, reliable insights.
