Media: Only half of US Air Force’s F-35 fighters can perform combat missions

The US Air Force has more than 540 F-35 fighters, but only half of them can perform combat missions. It was reported by Bloomberg agency.

techinsider.ru
U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Michael Schmidt said that only about half of the F-35 fighters in the U.S. fleet are mission-ready, Bloomberg reported, citing the general’s written testimony prepared for a hearing before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee aviation subcommittee.

“According to programme manager Lt Gen Michael Schmidt, as of February, the average monthly mission-ready rate for the US fleet of more than 540 F-35 fighter jets was 53.1 per cent,” the publication said.

This means they can perform at least some of the required tasks, such as combat flights, demonstration flights, training and testing, the paper noted. However, Schmidt pointed out that the proportion of aircraft capable of performing all their missions was less than 30 per cent.

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Media: Only half of US Air Force’s F-35 fighters can perform combat missions