F-35C Readiness Rises, Navy Fighter Shortfall Fades
While the Air Force bet the farm on F-35, the Navy put its airpower eggs in multiple baskets, from legacy fighters to new drones.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. on April 10, 2019 at 5:10 PM
CAPITOL HILL: Naval aviation is on the mend as readiness rises and fleet age falls, officials told Congress today. Not even yesterday’s F-35 crash off the coast of Japan seemed to shake the confidence of acquisition chief James “Hondo†Geurts. His sanguinity contrasts starkly with bitter public complaints from Air Force leadership on F-35 readiness rates and its automated maintenance system, ALIS.
On Navy and Marine Corps F-35s, “we are seeing readiness rates increase, commensurate to what we’re seeing on other aviation platforms,†Geurts told reporters after an upbeat hearing with the Senate seapower subcommittee. “Our mission readiness rates when deployed … have been very good.â€
https://breakingdefense.com/2019/04/navy-aviation-optimism-f-35c-readiness-rises-fighter-shortfall-fades/
