A Closer Look At The U.S. Air Force's 70-Percent Overall Mission Capable Rate

Two F-22s fly over Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Dec. 5, 2019. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Erin Baxter

Air Force Magazine: Breaking Down USAF’s 70-Percent Overall Mission Capable Rate

The Air Force’s fleet in fiscal 2019 maintained an overall mission capable rate of 70.27 percent, a slight increase from the previous year. Although some key combat aircraft, such as the fifth-generation F-22 Raptor, sustained low capability rates, service officials say the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

Air Force officials say the mission capable rate—a snapshot of how much of a certain fleet is ready to go at a given time—is an inaccurate portrayal of the service’s overall health. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein, in a September 2019 interview with Air Force Magazine, said the service instead wants to highlight how deployable a fleet is within a short period of time.

“How many force elements do we have—fighters, bombers, tankers—across all of the Air Force, and how are we doing relative to the time all of those forces need to be ready,” Goldfein said.

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Update: Hangar Queens! The U.S. Air Force’s Old F-15s Keep Flying While Newer F-22s Sit Idle (Forbes).

WNU Editor: It basically breaks down to this .... Older planes generally are more reliable than newer ones are. More importantly, simpler planes fly much more often than more-complex ones do.