Low Readiness and Lack of Specialists: Britain Dissatisfied With F-35 Program State

The Public Accounts Committee has released a report on the capabilities of British F-35 fighter jets, which assessed their capabilities as extremely unsatisfactory.

This is reported on the official website of the Committee.

The report states that the Ministry of Defence is preparing to announce the achievement of full operational capability of the aircraft based on criteria that are partly subjective and do not take into account key limitations, primarily the lack of long-range strike weapons.

The availability of the fleet is also seriously questionable: according to the Committee’s estimates, it is only about 40% in peacetime without deployment. The situation is complicated by the shortage of engineers, pilots, instructors and spare parts.

The Committee also emphasized infrastructure problems: the poor state of housing conditions at RAF Marham, where all F-35s are stationed, only deepens the crisis.

They warned that the renewal of 900 personnel accommodation places is stretched until 2034, which, in the Committee’s opinion, is unacceptable and negatively affects staff retention. Therefore, the Committee demanded that the investment be accelerated and reported back within six months.

In addition, the Committee demanded the Ministry of Defence to provide clear clarity on both funding and the number of aircraft to be purchased.

The Committee noted that it has seen a sharp increase in the life-cycle cost of the program: following the NAO audit, the Ministry of Defence updated its estimates to almost £57 billion for 138 aircraft by 2069 – and this does not include personnel, fuel and infrastructure costs.

The Committee also criticized the practice of “year-by-year savings,” which it said ultimately only increases overall costs and creates gaps in combat capability.

Separately, the Committee requests that the Ministry of Defence clarify the details of the next batch: in June, the government announced its intention to purchase 12 F-35As (with the prospect of participating in NATO’s nuclear mission) and 15 F-35Bs, but the costs and timeline for preparing for the dual-use role have not yet been made public. In this regard, the Committee requests that the relevant estimates be updated within six months.

The Committee also criticized delays in the integration of British weapons on the aircraft, such as Meteor and SPEAR 3 missiles, which, in the Committee’s view, undermines the combat effectiveness of the entire fleet of this type of aircraft.