Joint Strike Fighters flying hours cut as US warns of engine wear problems

Defence has downgraded the availability of the nation’s 33 Joint Strike Fighters amid a warning from the US Air Force.

A Royal Australian Air Force F-35A Lightning II aircraft. Picture: Supplied

The Defence Department has downgraded the availability of the nation’s 33 Joint Strike Fighters amid a warning by the US Air Force chief that they should be flown only infrequently.

Updated portfolio estimates reveal the F-35A Lightning II’s forecast flying hours this financial year have been slashed by 36 per cent, while the budgeted annual cost of sustaining the aircraft fell by just $9m to $258m.

The projected fall in flying time, from 8204 hours to 5250, came as US Air Force Chief of Staff Charles Brown said he would moderate the use of F-35s due to ­engine-wear problems.

“You don’t drive your Ferrari to work every day, you only drive it on Sundays,” he said last month.

“This is our ‘high end’ (fighter) — we want to make sure we don’t use it all for the low-end fight.”

First F-35, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter, lands at Leeuwarden Air Base in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, in 2019. Picture: AFP

Defence said the F-35A’s availability had been revised down “due to adjustments in the phased delivery of the aircraft and the maturing supply chain capability”. The updated portfolio estimates also reveal significant downgrades in availability for other key military aircraft.

The troubled C-27J Spartan — a new battlefield lifter added to Defence’s project watchlist because of problems with its electronic protection system — had its flying hours cut by 55 per cent.

The navy’s MH-60R Seahawk helicopter had its 2020-21 flying hours reduced by 30 per cent, while the classic F/A-18 Hornets’ hours have been cut 20 per cent.

At the same time, Defence’s overall sustainment budget for the year is forecast to remain ­relatively steady — increasing by $23m to $12.6bn.

Labor’s assistant defence spokesman Pat Conroy said the availability and sustainment of the nation’s weapons systems “continues to be a basket case”.

Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld, Scott Morrison and Commanding Officer Jordon Sander with an F-35A aircraft in Williamtown, NSW. Picture: Supplied

“The F-35A JSF is the poster child for this woeful underperformance,” he said. “Our newest fighter aircraft should be our most reliable aircraft. Instead, flying hours have fallen by a third while the cost of maintaining the aircraft remains at a quarter of a billion dollars per year.”

A Defence spokesman said: “Defence platforms continue to be available to support the government’s capability objectives, including Operation Fiji Assist.

“Defence routinely adjusts forecasts for Defence platforms based on variable factors such as force generation, operational assignments, exercise planning, the transition of new platforms into service and the evolving impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

It said sustainment costs “do not have a direct relationship to flying hours”.

Australia’s Chief of Air Force Mel Hupfeld said earlier this year he would be “foolish” to prematurely ­increase Australia’s JSF order from 72 to 100, arguing the nation might be better off waiting for a next-generation capability.

The wait-and-see approach comes as the US considers winding back its F-35 order, potentially raising costs for Australia.