A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report finds that the U.S. F-35 Lightning II fleet’s readiness continues to decline. Across fiscal 2025, the percentage of aircraft that are fully mission capable falls to about 25%, meaning roughly one in four F-35s meets the threshold to perform all required missions. Multiple outlets report that this level represents a further deterioration from prior years and reflects ongoing maintenance, parts, and other sustainment challenges.
The sources describe the readiness picture in terms of aircraft availability and mission capability, attributing the shortfalls to persistent issues associated with maintaining the fleet, including software-related problems and chronic hardware failures, as well as continuing shortages that affect repairs and turnaround times. The reporting also places the GAO findings against the backdrop of the program’s large total cost, citing the scale of investment made to field and sustain the aircraft.
Overall, the outlets agree that GAO’s findings indicate significant readiness gaps for the F-35 fleet by the end of fiscal 2025.
