The United States has just grounded the entire F-35 fighter fleet

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The US military ordered the grounding of all F-35 fighters following an accident in South Carolina last month. The F-35 ironically suffered its first crash on the same day, the first real achievement: the first take-off and landing of the aircraft of the latest UK aircraft carrier, HMS. Queen Elizabeth. There were no deaths or injuries in the accident on Friday, September 28, and an F-35B assigned to VMFAT 501. The F-35B is the VTOL variant (vertical take-off and landing) requested by the US Marine Corps, as opposed to the F-35A deployed by the Air Force and the F-35C used by the US Navy.

The complete grounding of the fleet is directly related to the initial crash. Investigators appear to have detected problems with the aircraft fuel tubes and will now inspect the tubes for the entire fleet. "If suspect fuel tubes are installed, the part will be removed and replaced. If good fuel tubes are already installed, these devices will be restored, "Pentagon spokesman Joe DellaVedova told CNBC. The inspections should only take about two days.

There are two sub-texts in the story. One of them, which everyone probably knows at this point, is that the F-35 is not considered a particularly performant aircraft in many neighborhoods. Even among its members, it is recognized that the aircraft underperformed. It's years late. His roadmap for development and his budget give the impression that they have been attacked by a horde of angry mathematics teachers.

The story is the same every time we cover the plane: some improvements have been made, new problems have occurred, the aircraft has not delivered what the designer had planned, and sophisticated support systems , weapons loading management systems, enhanced combat capabilities, and various other functions are (depending on the day) in different states of disrepair, assuming they work. In the long run, some progress has been made, but at a speed and cost that has left many people wondering whether we should not build different aircraft or extend the life of those we already have. This is not a conversation that we will soon stop having.

The second problem is that American fighter fleets are not doing very well right now. US Secretary of State James Mattis has called on America to be able to simultaneously launch four out of five fighter jets in the next 12 months. As Foxtrot Alpha points out, this simply will not happen, largely because we have been in perpetual warfare in many parts of the world for 17 years. Most Americans do not think this is part of their daily lives, but it's true – and it adds a lot of weight to the vehicles we deploy to fight scenarios. The situation worsened in 2011 with the Budget Control Act (or sequestration) and Congress's practice of funding the government through a series of resolutions that maintain funding at previous levels but do not change it. . Here is Foxtrot:

As a result, the fleets of hunters are in poor condition. In 2017, only 70.22% of the F-16C fighter jets in the Air Force were considered ready for action. Just under half of the F-22A raptors, 49.01%, are ready. In the Navy and Marine Corps, 44% of the F / A-18 Hornets are ready to take action, although these older aircraft are relegated to the Navy Reserve and the Navy Corps. The Super Hornet force of the Navy stands at 53%.

The F-35 program is of course no exception. In March, the office that runs the F-35 program reported that readiness stood at 51% in all three versions and three services. Readiness levels vary a great deal depending on the age of the aircraft: the oldest F-35 series averaged only 40 to 50%, while newer planes ranged from 70 to 75%.

It will take a lot of effort to get the air force to Mattis' availability levels, if that's possible, and the persistent problems with the F-35s will not make it that easy.

Now read: The F-35 program is once again in trouble, the US Air Force plans to reduce F-35 orders by a third and a new report reveals that the Pentagon's weapons systems are riddled with vulnerabilities