Die US-Aufsichtsbehörde sagt, dass F-35 aufgrund von Wartungsproblemen bei Lockheed im Jahr 2024 die Hälfte der Zeit flogen

While this makes a great headline, a 50% availability rate is not all that unusual for a fighter. USAF availability rates for other fighter in 2024 were about 55-60% for the F-15, 40% for the F-22, and 60-65% for the F-16. Non-combat aircraft, especially those based on civilian platforms, tend to have higher availability.

It’s worth remembering, maintenance is *unto itself a strategic asset*. You can spend it to your advantage, it’s a budget. If your fighter has really high availability rates – say, above 80% – the design has likely sacrificed survivability, lethality, or observability in some way to do so. This isn’t per se a bad thing, it’s just a trade-off you have to consider in your fleet capitalization choices. If you have the maintenance and industrial capacity to maintain a sufficient active/available fighter force when half of your fleet is in the hangar being worked on, you gain a bonus in combat effectiveness. If you cannot, well, you can trade combat effectiveness for less maintenance. It’s a choice, and a design choice at that.

This trade-off depends on many things. For instance, US Navy fighters have historically demanded higher availability than USAF fighters, because logistics makes this maintenance „spend“ more expensive for them. Navy fighters end up more robust, but slightly less capable than their Air Force counterparts, which is offset by the Navy’s strategic reach and mobility. (That said, I believe the F-35C is struggling for lower availability than the F-35A)

The F-35 has faced significant challenges, with its availability rates being substantially lower than those of other aircraft of similar age, while the Gripen is noted for having higher availability rates.

“F-35s have aged, their availability and use have decreased, CBO finds. The availability and use of F-35s have been lower, in some cases much lower, than those of other fighter aircraft of the same age. For example, the average availability rate of a 7-year-old F-35A has been about the same as that of a 36-year-old F-16C/D and a 17-year-old F-22.”

[Availability, Use, and Operating and Support Costs of F-35 Fighter Aircraft](https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61482)

[F-35 vs the Gripen Everything you need to know about the F-35 and Gripen fighter jets.](https://ottawacitizen.com/public-service/defence-watch/canada-fighter-jets-f-35-gripen)