From Newsgroup: rec.aviation.military

On 12/27/25 00:57, murphy wrote:

On 26 Dec 2025, c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> posted some news:jxOdnSLSf5js1tP0nZ2dnZfqn_gAAAAA@giganews.com:

https://www.newsmax.com/us/pentagon-f-35-jets-maintenance/2025/12/25/id
/1239674/

The War Department's inspector general said the U.S. fleet of
F-35s was available to fly only about half the time because
of poor maintenance by Lockheed Martin, which builds the world's
most advanced stealth fighter.

A report released Friday by the Office of the Inspector General
found the average availability rate of F-35s during fiscal 2024
was just 50%, 17 percentage points below the minimum
performance requirement.

The watchdog said that was partly because the Pentagon, under
the Biden administration, "did not consistently hold Lockheed
Martin accountable for poor performance related to F-35
sustainment.

. . .

Wow - this is BAD.

F-16s were pretty good. However everything after
has been pretty iffy - not to mention WAY more
expensive.

If they won't work then what the hell are they
good for ?????????

The makers, AND whomever govt overlookers, should
be ARRESTED. No, not 'investigated' - ARRESTED for
wasting umpteen BILLIONS of taxpayer money on
clear CRAP. Put their asses in federal PRISON.

"For months now, a big number has been attached to the F-35: $2.1
trillion."

https://www.airandspaceforces.com/f-35-office-2-1-trillion-cost/

Even worse than I thought .........

Hmm, arrests AND televised executions ... ?

2.1 trillion could have bailed-out Social Security
for a long time or been used as incentive to bring
more biz (back) into the USA or just to make many
taxes disappear. Shit, if they'd put most of it
into gold ten+ years ago ........ !

F-16/15 were not 'perfect' at the very start, but
it didn't take THAT long to work out the bugs.
The F-35, HALF don't work, NOT encouraging at all.

The 'future of warfare' ... maybe 'fighter planes'
won't even be part of that very much. Looks to be
mostly 'AI' killer drones of various kinds. "ID
Enemy, Kill Enemy" ... and HOPE it doesn't develop
a broader def of "enemy" ...

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