F-35 Jets Less Available to Fly Missions as They Age, CBO Says

Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 fighter aircraft have a decreased availability and use as they have aged, the Congressional Budget Office reports.

The F-35 program —the Pentagon’s largest and costliest aircraft program—is producing three variants of a fifth-generation fighter aircraft for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. The Air Force has planned to procure a total of 1,763 F-35As, the most among the services.

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, the CBO concluded in a report published Thursday. For example, the ...