this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2023
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Reflecting on Canada's F-35 decision: F-35 fighter jets can only fly 55% of the time (www.ft.com)
submitted 1 year ago by zephyreks to c/canada
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The fleet’s mission-capable rate — or the percentage of time a plane can perform one of its assigned missions — was 55 per cent as of March 2023, far below the Pentagon’s goal of 85 per cent to 90 per cent, the Government Accountability Office said on Thursday.

Part of the challenges stem from a heavy reliance on contractors for maintenance that limits the Pentagon’s ability to control depot maintenance decisions. Delays also arise from spare parts shortages, inadequate maintenance training, insufficient support equipment, and a lack of technical data needed to make repairs.

Because of the Pentagon's inane IP laws, maintenance on these planes is a bureaucratic nightmare: defense contractors are able to limit maintenance of these things to only those they contract because of IP restrictions and are not required to teach the military jack shit. Meanwhile, they're essentially a paperweight half the time because they're not getting proper maintenance.

How are we supposed to patrol the Arctic with a plane that needs an American private subcontractor to perform essential maintenance on it?

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Yawn. Call me when you have actual planes and real problems to whine about. Guy is whining about product not even in service.

Hating on the F-35 is a popular pastime, but do yall know high much work high performance planes require?

Honestly these are the terms for every American-made weapon system. If you seek to use U.S. weapons, you will buy the relevant parts and service from American contractors or contractors solely approved by the U.S. Department of Defense. Article is a nothingburger.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

If they think 55% for a plane fleet is bad, they might be appalled at our actual vehicle out of service rate for the ground fleet.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Wasn't the F-35 a joint development?

[–] zephyreks 2 points 1 year ago

Our other options included no such terms, and, frankly, the F-35's stealth capability is much more important in offensive theatres than defensive ones where multiple overlapping radar frequencies are both feasible and already exist and active countermeasures can be freely used without fear of detection.

Canada's military is defensive in nature and it's primarily focused on patrolling the Arctic. For that purpose, the F-35's range and payload make it rather... unideal.