US F-35 Fighter Jets Are All Still 'Below Service Expectations'

An F-35A Lightning II. US Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Sam King

Business Insider: US F-35 fighter jets are all still 'below service expectations' for all the services that have them

* Each service branch's F-35's are falling short of combat readiness goals, according to the Pentagon's top testing official.
* One reason for falling short of service expectations is that "the aircraft are breaking more often and taking longer to fix," the official said.

Even though the F-35 program is making strides, each of the Joint Strike Fighter variants is still coming up short on combat readiness goals, according to the Pentagon's top weapons tester.

Based on collected data for fiscal 2019, the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy variants all remain "below service expectations" for aircraft availability, Robert Behler, director of the Pentagon's Operational Test and Evaluation Office, said Wednesday.

"Operational suitability of the F-35 fleet remains below service expectations," he said before the House Subcommittee on Readiness and Tactical Air and Land Forces. "In particular, no F-35 variant meets the specified reliability or maintainability metrics."

One reason for falling short of the 65% availability rate goal is that "the aircraft are breaking more often and taking longer to fix," Behler added.

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WNU Editor: Lockheed Martin was able to convince the Pentagon that they could develop and field a fighter jet that would meet their specifications, and the Pentagon bought it. This is why these reports of under performance are maddening. It also makes one wonder on what else is performing below expectations.