The UK’s fleet of F-35 stealth fighters would be the most superior fight plane the nation has ever fielded, however a brand new report from Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee paints a troubling image of delays, price inflation, and deep-rooted administration failures inside the Ministry of Defence.
The report finds that whereas “the Division has procured the perfect quick jet it has ever had,” the UK’s F-35 programme is marred by functionality shortfalls and workforce shortages. Of explicit concern is the dearth of a standoff weapon to strike floor targets from a secure distance, “not more likely to be in place till the early 2030s.” The MoD’s chosen system, the Spear 3 missile, has been delayed by provider points and software program improvement issues within the world F-35 programme.
The Committee additionally highlights “extreme shortages” of key personnel, together with engineers, cyber specialists, pilots, and instructors, that are limiting plane availability. Solely “5 out of sixteen flying teacher posts have been stuffed in 2025,” it notes, warning that the scarcity will take years to repair. The report provides that poor lodging at RAF Marham, the F-35’s residence base, is worsening retention: “The 2034 date for comparatively easy service lodging building may be very complacent and ought to be given higher precedence.”
MPs categorical explicit concern over the MoD’s plan to declare “Full Working Functionality” for the F-35 fleet this 12 months, describing the choice as “primarily based on subjective judgement” and depending on non permanent help from the US-led programme throughout the present Indo-Pacific provider deployment. Plane availability is predicted to fall as soon as the provider strike group returns.
Monetary transparency additionally comes underneath scrutiny. The Committee says the MoD has constantly “didn’t realistically appraise the programme’s whole-life price.” Following a Nationwide Audit Workplace intervention earlier this 12 months, the Division was pressured to boost its estimate from £18 billion to £57 billion, however even that determine excludes “non-equipment prices similar to personnel, gasoline and infrastructure,” which the NAO locations nearer to £71 billion.
The report additional questions the June 2025 choice to purchase 12 F-35A plane, land-based variants able to carrying nuclear weapons, alongside 15 extra F-35Bs. MPs word that “the Division has not offered any indication of forecast prices” for coaching, certification, or infrastructure wanted to help the brand new nuclear position.
The Committee’s suggestions name for a “extra sturdy and goal definition of Full Working Functionality,” quicker funding in Marham’s lodging, and a transparent plan to make sure standoff strike functionality earlier than Spear 3’s delayed entry into service. It additionally urges the MoD to incorporate all related prices, personnel, infrastructure, and gasoline, in its long-term monetary planning for the fleet.
The Public Accounts Committee’s full report, The UK’s F-35 Stealth Fighter Functionality, presents an in depth evaluation of how certainly one of Britain’s most formidable defence initiatives dangers falling wanting its potential. It may be learn in full on Parliament’s web site right here.