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F-35 Aircraft

Asked by Ben Obese-JectyConservativeMinistry of DefenceTabled Answered 23 June 2026UIN 11056

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the US Government Accountability Office’s report entitled F-35 Sustainment: Actions Needed to Ensure Updated Strategy Improves Persistent Readiness Challenges, published on 11 June 2026, what assessment he has made of the analysis that shows the full mission capable rate (percentage of time the aircraft can perform all of its missions) declined from 38 percent to 25 percent fiscal year 2021 to 2025 in relation to the mission capable rate of the UK Lightning Force.

Answered by Luke Pollard

The F-35 Joint Program Office has instigated a new initiative, the F-35 Global Support Solution (GSS) Reset, to improve aircraft performance metrics across the global fleet of F-35 aircraft.

Mission Capable Rates and procurement costs of United States Marine Corps F-35B aircraft as reported by the United States Government Accountability Office are solely a matter for that nation.

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