Bloomberg: About Half of US F-35 Fighters Are Not Ready to Perform Duties

US Air Force pilot Lieutenant General Michael Schmidt revealed that about half of the F-35 fighters in the US, the fleet are ready to perform war missions.

And "Bloomberg" quoted a written statement by Schmidt that he prepared for the hearings in the Aviation Subcommittee of the US House Committee on the Armed Forces, that the average number of US fighters ready to perform their duties during February amounted to more than 540 F-35 fighters, which is equivalent to 53.1 %".

He pointed out that this means that it can perform at least some of the required tasks, such as combat, test, training, and test flights.

Schmidt emphasized that the proportion of aircraft capable of performing all of their tasks was less than 30%.

He described the current situation as unacceptable and said he intended to increase readiness rates by at least 10% annually.

Bloomberg added, quoting a preliminary report from the US Audit Office, that the F-35's engine cooling system "is not effective enough, which leads to a reduction in engine life."