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Pentagon’s $1.7T F-35 jets have ‘maintenance issues,’
finish missions barely half the time: feds
By Josh Christenson and Caitlin Doornbos
Published Sep. 21, 2023, 6:58 p.m. ET
The US military is set to spend at least $1.7 trillion on nearly 2,500 F-35 fighter jets that have “costly maintenance issues” — and have a coin flip chance of completing their missions, according to a new government report released Thursday.
The F-35 air fleet was included as a line item in last year’s annual defense budget, but the Pentagon remains “behind schedule” in maintaining the fighter jets, the Government Accountability Office found.
The GAO report also showed the $100-million-apiece F-35s are capable of performing missions just 55% of the time, and more than 10,000 of the aircraft have been grounded for repairs. Just 450 are currently fielded.
That's 4.5%! Now Canada, after more than a decade of deciding, finally chose the useless piece of expensive garbage for its military.
It also cited delays in “setting up military service depots — facilities to complete the most complex repairs,” “inadequate equipment to keep aircraft operational” and “maintenance and supply delays affecting aircraft readiness.”
F-35 - The Pentagon is poised to spend $1.7 trillion on nearly 2,500 F-35 fighter jets resulting from
“costly maintenance issues” it faces in operating and repairing the aircraft. REUTERS
The findings raise concerns about one of the US military’s most expensive weapons systems just days after a pilot ejected from an F-35 over South Carolina due to what officials described as a “malfunction.”
The jet was lost in bad weather and the unidentified pilot apparently bailed from the cockpit before turning on the aircraft’s tracking system — causing it to be lost for days before debris was found in a wooded area in Williamsburg County, roughly 60 miles from the North Charleston residential neighborhood into which the pilot parachuted.
See story immediately below.
“Over the life of the F-35 program, sustainment has only recently been prioritized and difficult decisions regarding sustainment continue to be Delayed,” the report states.
“DOD and the military services have the opportunity to take a different path and chart an affordable path forward. The preparedness of our military depends upon it.”
The F-35 has the unique ability to land vertically, allowing pilots the opportunity to touch down nearly anywhere – including on Navy ships at sea. It’s a feature that defense experts say could play a valuable role should conflict with China break out in the Western Pacific.
Of the available funds, $1.3 trillion have been allocated for “operating and sustaining the aircraft.”
The Pentagon - More than 10,000 of the aircraft have been grounded for repairs. Just 450 are currently fielded. AFP/Getty Images
The Pentagon, where, IMHO, billions of dollars are wasted every second.
The government watchdog toured two depots and all 15 installations for the F-35s before issuing Thursday’s report.
The GAO recommended that the Pentagon retain management of all F-35s by October 2027 — and leave less control of the fleet up to government contractors.
Several years ago I watched the TV series "Madam Secretary". While left wing in their approach, of course, they pointed out that the F35 was a disaster and one of the reasons was that parts for the jet were made in every state of the union. This is how Deep State controls Congress.
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911 call shows bizarre circumstances of F-35 ejection:
‘Not sure where the airplane is,’ pilot says
BY TARA COPP AND JAMES POLLARD
Updated 7:22 PM PDT, September 21, 2023
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A military pilot whose advanced fighter jet went temporarily missing over the weekend is heard repeatedly requesting an ambulance in a perplexing 911 call from the South Carolina home where he had parachuted to safety, according to an audio recording released Thursday to The Associated Press.
In a 911 call, a Charleston resident reports a pilot parachuted into his backyard.
The four-minute recording captures the bizarre circumstances for the three unidentified people involved: a North Charleston resident calmly explaining that a pilot just parachuted into his backyard, the pilot who doesn’t know what became of his F-35 jet, and a puzzled dispatcher trying to make sense of it all.
“We got a pilot in the house, and I guess he landed in my backyard, and we’re trying to see if we could get an ambulance to the house, please,” the resident said.
The pilot, who said he was 47, reported feeling “OK” after falling what he estimated was 2,000 feet. Only his back hurt, he said. The resident said the pilot looked fine.
In a 911 call, an operator speaking to the pilot about possible injuries from a fall.
“Ma’am, a military jet crashed. I’m the pilot. We need to get rescue rolling,” the pilot said. “I’m not sure where the airplane is. It would have crash landed somewhere. I ejected.”
Later in the call, he made another plea for medical help.
“Ma’am, I’m a pilot in a military aircraft, and I ejected. So I just rode a parachute down to the ground. Can you please send an ambulance?” the pilot said.
In a 911 call made from a resident’'s home, a military jet pilot explains he had to eject from his plane.
The Marines have described the pilot as an experienced aviator with decades of experience in the cockpit.
The F-35 crashed Sunday after a malfunction prompted the pilot to eject over Charleston and land in the residential backyard not far from Charleston International Airport.
The fighter jet, which the Marine Corps said was at an altitude of only about 1,000 feet (300 meters), kept flying for 60 miles (100 kilometers) until it crashed in a rural area near Indiantown. It took more than a day to locate the wreckage.
In a separate eight-minute dispatch call released Thursday to the AP, an unidentified official tried explaining that they had “a pilot with his parachute” but no information about what happened to his plane or word of a crash. He said “the pilot lost sight of it on his way down due to the weather.”
The official also recalled hearing a “rather loud noise” about 25 minutes prior that “sounded something like a tornado, possibly a plane.”
The Marine Corps said Thursday that a feature on fighter jets intended to protect pilots in emergencies could explain how the F-35 managed to continue its travels. They said that while it was unclear why the jet kept flying, flight control software would have worked to keep it steady if there were no longer a pilot’s hands on the controls.
“If the jet is stable in level flight, the jet will attempt to stay there. If it was in an established climb or descent, the jet will maintain a 1G state in that climb or descent until commanded to do something else,” the Marine Corps said in a statement. “This is designed to save our pilots if they are incapacitated or lose situational awareness.”
Other questions about the crash remained, notably why the plane wasn’t tracked as it continued flying over South Carolina and how it could take more than a day to find a massive fighter jet that had flown over populated, although rural, areas.
The Marines said features that erase a jet’s secure communications in case of an ejection — a feature designed to protect both the pilot’s location and the plane’s classified systems — may also have complicated efforts to find it.
“Normally, aircraft are tracked via radar and transponder codes,” the Marines said.
“Upon pilot ejection, the aircraft is designed to erase (or ‘zeroize’) all secure communication.”
The plane would have kept broadcasting an identifier on an open channel to identify itself as friend or foe — but even on an unclassified communications channel air traffic control may not have been able to pick up the signal depending on how powerful its radar was, the weather at the time, how high the plane was flying and the terrain, the Marines said. They said thunderstorms and low cloud ceilings further hampered the search for the plane.
“When coupled with the F-35’s stealth capabilities, tracking the jet had to be done through non-traditional means,” the service said in its statement.
The incident is still under investigation and results from an official review board could take months.
However, the Marines said the feature that kept the plane flying may not only have saved the life of the pilot but of others on the ground.
“The good news is it appeared to work as advertised. The other bit of silver lining in this case is that through the F-35 flying away it avoided crashing into a densely populated area surrounding the airport, and fortunately crashed into an empty field and forested area,” the statement said.
A $100mn USD, aircraft abandoned
That's the silver lining even though it was either pure dumb luck, or the Hand of God that dropped that jet in the woods. But what's curious is, why did the pilot eject in the first place if the plane was able to fly on a stable course and altitude for another 60 miles? Something must have spooked the pilot who was very experienced and capable. Why didn't the pilot point the plane toward the ocean? Why didn't he climb to give more time for his parachute to open?
If it was a particularly bad thunderstorm, could the pilot not see it on his radar? Could the GCA at Charleston Int'l A not see it and advise the pilot to avoid it? Very strange!
Canada agrees $14 billion deal for F-35 stealth fighter jets
By Brad Lendon, CNN
Published 12:11 AM EST, Tue January 10, 2023
Boris Grdanoski/AP
CNN
—
Canada is buying 88 F-35 stealth fighter jets in a $14.2 billion deal announced Monday by the Ottawa government.
The first of the US-made planes are expected to enter the Royal Canadian Air Force in 2026 with the full fleet being operational by 2033 or 2034, a Canadian government news release said.
Of course, operational is a very optimistic word. We have seen by the top story above that only 4.5% of Americas fleet of 10,000 F-35s are actually operational because of horrendous maintenance problems. If that ratio also applies in Canada, then we can expect 3 or 4 of the jets to be operational on any given day.
With the deal, Canada becomes the last of the F-35 program’s original eight partners to acquire the fifth-generation fighter, regarded as one of the best fighter jets in the world. - When they are working, unless there's a storm.
“In today’s complex global environment, Canada requires a military that is flexible, agile and capable of responding to a variety of unforeseen situations,” Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said in a statement.
“As the rules-based international order is challenged around the world, the F-35 will be essential for protecting Canadians, enhancing Arctic security and national sovereignty, and enabling Canada to meet its NATO, NORAD and other obligations well into the future,” the statement said.
NORAD is a joint US-Canadian command that provides air and missile defense for North America.
Manufacturer Lockheed Martin has seen a rush of interest in the F-35 over the past year, especially since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Which is the whole point of the proxy war in Ukraine - to sell weapons to Europe.
Germany, Switzerland and Finland made deals for the F-35 in 2022, while NATO allies Greece and the Czech Republic also announced requests to buy the stealth fighters.
Besides the US Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, F-35s are also in or soon to be part of the fleets of Australia, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Poland, Belgium and Singapore.
How many trillions of dollars is that for the USA, at $100mn each?
The jets come in three versions, the standard F-35A, the short-take off and vertical landing F-35B, and the aircraft carrier version, the F-35C.
Canada will buy the F-35A model to replace its aging CF-18s.
“Canada requires a fighter fleet to protect the sovereignty of one of the largest expanses of airspace in the world” – the country’s vast Arctic frontier – Anand said.
To that end, the $14.2 billion (19 billion Canadian dollars) price tag includes construction at two air bases in Alberta and Quebec, and associated equipment and services, the government said.
The announcement said the program is expected to generate 3,300 jobs annually over 25 years and contribute $310 million ($425 million Canadian) annually to the country’s gross domestic product.
As an original member of the F-35 program, Canadian industry has seen $2.8 billion in contracts to date related to the construction of the fighter jet, the government said.
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