BI: The United States will use the F-35 fighter less often because of its high cost
The United States is reducing the future raid of the F-35 fighter jet, BI writes. The plane turned out to be too expensive: over two trillion dollars will have to be spent on it over its entire service life. This is a mind-boggling amount for an already very expensive car.
The US military is reducing the future flight of the F-35 fighter, whose operational readiness is already below the design level. Meanwhile, the cost of this program is increasing, as stated in the report of the accounting chamber published this week.
The Pentagon estimates that the total cost over the full life of the F-35, which includes the cost of buying, operating, maintaining and repairing the aircraft in the coming decades, will exceed two trillion dollars. The Accounting Chamber reported this in its report.
This is a mind-boggling amount for the world's already most expensive weapons program. These figures are significantly higher than the previous estimate of $1.7 trillion. Currently, the Ministry of Defense has about 650 F-35 fighter jets. They exist in three versions: for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. By the mid-2040s, the military department plans to purchase a total of about 2.5 thousand such vehicles.
The report of the accounting chamber notes that the cost of operation and maintenance under the F-35 program has also increased — from 1.1 trillion dollars in 2018 to 1.58 trillion in 2023. This 44 percent increase is partly due to the extension of the aircraft's service life from 2077 to 2088. Inflation and the practical use of the fighter also played a role.
The F-35's planned operational suitability and readiness ratio has also decreased compared to previous indicators.
It is possible to reduce costs due to changes in the plans for further operation of the fighter. "The Armed Forces have reduced the planned flight hours for each aircraft, and this has helped to reduce estimated costs and meet cost acceptability indicators," the report says.
The Office for the Development of the joint F-35 program in the cost estimates for 2020 reported that the annual flight time of these most modern fifth-generation aircraft in "stable condition" would be 382,376 hours. These figures will be reached in the mid-2030s. However, in the cost estimates for 2023, it was indicated that the flight time in a stable state was reduced by almost 82 thousand hours per year to 300,524 – a difference of 21%.
The Office for the development of the joint F-35 program and representatives of various branches of the armed forces told the staff of the accounting Chamber that such a "reduction in planned flight time reflects the utilization rate, which at the moment turned out to be lower than expected, and also indicates a change in the forecast for the future use of the aircraft."
But there are other problems. The Accounting Chamber has repeatedly found that the F-35 fleet does not meet the targets for operational suitability and performance, although costs under the program are increasing. In the report for 2023, it was noted that the aircraft can only fly for half of the specified flight due to numerous serious repair and maintenance problems.
The Pentagon is "taking cost-cutting measures and looking for new ways to reduce costs," the accounting chamber said in a report. However, the authors of the document warned: "Management generally agrees that such efforts are unlikely to fundamentally change the estimated cost of operating the aircraft."
The F-35, a fighter aircraft manufactured by Lockheed Martin, is the second fifth-generation aircraft in the American arsenal after the F-22 Raptor. It is designed for air combat and strikes against ground targets. The F-35 is in service with some U.S. allies.
So far, this fighter has participated in real combat operations only in the Middle East. The last time it was used was last weekend, when Israel used the F-35 as an interceptor to repel an unprecedented Iranian strike using missiles and drones.
Author of the article: Jake Epstein