Two Trillion, One Shocker: F-35 Stumbles

Thirty years and about $2 trillion later, the F-35 fleet is still only fully mission-capable about a quarter of the time.

Quick Take

Government Accountability Office data show the fleet’s full mission-capable rate fell to 24.6 percent in fiscal 2025.
The broader mission-capable rate also dropped, from 66.8 percent in fiscal 2021 to 44.1 percent in fiscal 2025.
Officials say the program now has a formal reset plan that aims for better readiness by 2030.
Even with that plan, the numbers still show a big gap between spending, targets, and day-to-day combat readiness.

Readiness Still Trails the Price Tag

The newest Government Accountability Office report gives the strongest picture yet of the F-35 problem. It says software shortcomings, spare parts shortages, and corrosion left only about one in four jets fully mission-capable in fiscal 2025. That means the world’s most expensive fighter program still struggles to deliver a fleet that can do every assigned mission when called on.

The headline number matters because it measures the strictest level of readiness. The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments says full mission-capable status is more demanding than simple mission-capable status, because it requires an aircraft to perform all of its possible missions, not just some of them. The broader mission-capable rate was higher, but it still fell hard over the same period.

What the Trend Line Shows

The Government Accountability Office data show a clear decline, not a one-year dip. The fleet’s mission-capable rate dropped from 66.8 percent in fiscal 2021 to 44.1 percent in fiscal 2025, while full mission-capable readiness slid from 38.1 percent to 24.6 percent. Those are steep losses for a program that has been defended for years as the backbone of American tactical air power.

Readiness also varies by version. Air and Space Forces reported that the F-35A’s general mission-capable rate was 38.6 percent in fiscal 2025, while the F-35B and F-35C sat higher, in the roughly 54 percent to 64 percent range. That does not erase the fleetwide problem. It does show that the program is not failing in exactly the same way across every service branch.

The Reset Shows the Pressure Is Real

Program leaders are not ignoring the problem. Military Times reported that the F-35 sustainment reset launched in June 2025 aims for an 80 percent mission-capable rate and a 65 percent full mission-capable rate by 2030. That target set is important because it shows the Pentagon has accepted that current performance is too low. It also shows how far the fleet still has to climb.

Other official figures point in the same direction. The Congressional Budget Office says F-35 fleetwide availability has stayed in the 50 percent to 60 percent range since 2022, and it notes that this measure is less strict than full mission capability. A separate Pentagon Inspector General report found average availability was 50 percent in fiscal 2024, or 17 points below the minimum requirement.

Why the Debate Keeps Coming Back

The F-35 remains a case study in how a major weapons program can succeed in procurement while still stumbling in sustainment. The aircraft exists in huge numbers, and the unit price has improved over time, but the cost of keeping it ready has become the real strain. That is why critics focus on parts, depots, software, and corrosion, while supporters point to reset plans and better future targets.

That split explains why the debate rarely ends. The strongest fact in the record is still the same: the fleet is not meeting the readiness level that many Americans would expect after three decades and vast spending. The Government Accountability Office findings, the Inspector General availability figure, and the Congressional Budget Office’s cost-and-readiness work all point to a system that is flying often enough to avoid collapse, but not well enough to end the controversy.