Here are some highlights from the GAO’s April 2019 assessment of the F-35’s sustainment challenges (I will forego the indentation):
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As of February 2019, more than 350 aircraft had been fielded and were operating from 16 bases worldwide. By 2023, the global F-35 fleet is expected to expand to more than 1,100 aircraft across 43 operational sites…
Spare parts shortages and limited repair capabilities. F-35 aircraft were unable to fly nearly 30 percent of the May—November 2018 time period due to spare parts shortages. Also, the Department of Defense (DOD) had a repair backlog of about 4,300 F-35 parts.
Mismatched parts for deploying aircraft. DOD purchases certain sets of F35 parts years ahead of time to support aircraft on deployments, including on ships. But the parts do not fully match the military services’ needs because F-35 aircraft have been modified over time. For example, 44 percent of purchased parts were incompatible with aircraft the Marine Corps took on a recent deployment.
An immature global network to move F-35 parts. DOD’s networks for moving F-35 parts around the world are immature, and overseas F-35 customers have experienced long wait times for parts needed to repair aircraft…
Air vehicle availability, or the percentage of total time during which the aircraft can fly and perform at least one mission, was 45.8 percent across the F-35 fleet from May through November 2018, as compared with the warfighter minimum target of 65 percent. Full mission capability, or the percentage of time during which the aircraft can perform all of its tasked missions, was 26.8 percent from May through November 2018, as compared with the warfighter minimum target of 60 percent. However, parts availability and aircraft performance varied by aircraft variant and the age of the aircraft.
The average time to repair an F-35 part was more than 6 months, or about 188 days for repairs completed between September and November 2018—more than twice that of the program’s objective of 60—90 days.
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