A Tale of Two Air Forces: Why Israel’s F-35 Fleet Outperforms the US Air Force
The United States Air Force is facing an unprecedented readiness crisis with its F-35A Lightning II fleet, achieving mission capable rates of just over 50% while its closest Middle Eastern ally maintains nearly 90% readiness with the same aircraft.
This stark disparity reveals fundamental flaws in America’s approach to sustaining its most expensive military program and offers critical lessons for future conflicts.
The numbers tell a sobering story. The US Air Force’s F-35A fleet achieved a mission capable rate of only 51.5% in fiscal 2024, representing a dramatic decline from nearly 69% in 2021.
This means that on any given day, roughly half of America’s most advanced fighters are unable to perform their assigned missions. The situation has become so dire that Air Force leadership has declared a “war on readiness” to address the crisis.
In stark contrast, Israel maintains 35 of its 39 F-35I “Adir” aircraft in mission-ready status—an impressive 90% readiness rate that has been sustained even during high-intensity combat operations. This performance gap represents more than just statistical variance; it highlights fundamentally different approaches to aircraft sustainment and strategic priorities.
The F-35’s struggles are part of a broader Air Force readiness crisis.
The service’s overall fleet-wide mission capable rate has plummeted to 62%—the lowest in recent memory—meaning approximately 1,900 aircraft are out of commission at any given time.
For the F-35 specifically, the decline has been precipitous: from a peak of 71.4% in 2020 to today’s dismal 51.5%.
The implications extend beyond mere statistics. With the Air Force’s fleet already at its smallest size in its 78-year history at just 5,025 aircraft, having nearly half of the F-35 fleet unavailable represents a serious degradation of America’s air power projection capabilities.
Israel’s success with the F-35I stems from strategic decisions made early in the program that prioritized operational independence over cost savings. Unlike every other F-35 operator, Israel negotiated unique arrangements that allow it to maintain, modify, and upgrade its aircraft independently of the centralized US logistics system.
The Israeli Air Force recognized early that the troubled Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS)—the centralized cloud-based maintenance system designed to support all F-35 operations—would not meet their operational needs, especially during large-scale conflicts. As one Israeli Air Force officer explained in 2016: “The ingenious, automated ALIS system that Lockheed Martin has built will be very efficient and cost-effective. But the only downfall is that it was built for countries that don’t have missiles falling on them.”
Israel’s F-35I aircraft operate with a distinct configuration that is not dependent on ALIS, and Israel remains the only F-35 operator authorized to install entire suites of domestically-developed software and perform completely independent depot-level maintenance. This independence has proven crucial during combat operations, where Israel has demonstrated the ability to maintain high sortie rates even under intense operational tempo.
At the heart of America’s F-35 readiness crisis lies a fundamental shortage of spare parts. Air Force officials have repeatedly cited spare parts availability as the primary factor behind declining mission capable rates. The scope of this problem is staggering: as of March 2023, over 10,000 F-35 parts were piled up waiting for repairs due to depot capacity issues.
The Government Accountability Office has determined that the lack of depot capacity contributes up to a 10% reduction in the F-35’s mission capable rate, with full depot capacity not expected to be realized until 2027. This has created a vicious cycle where the F-35 Joint Program Office has resorted to ordering new parts instead of repairing existing ones—an approach that program officials acknowledge is not sustainable.
The just-in-time logistics model that underpins the F-35 program, designed for efficiency in peacetime, has proven inadequate for sustained operations. As Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt, head of the F-35 Joint Program Office, explained: “This program was set up to be very efficient… [a] just-in-time kind of supply chain. I’m not sure that that works always in a contested environment.”
Israel’s superior F-35 performance also benefits from several inherent advantages. The Israeli Air Force operates only 39 F-35I aircraft compared to the US Air Force’s fleet of over 400 F-35As, allowing for more concentrated maintenance resources and attention per aircraft. Additionally, Israel’s combat operations occur close to home bases, reducing the logistical complexity that plagues U.S. operations designed for global power projection.
Perhaps most importantly, Israel has received prioritized support from the U.S. government. Since the outbreak of conflict on October 7, 2023, the F-35 Joint Program Office has moved “at breakneck speed” to support Israel by accelerating weapons capabilities and increasing spare parts supply rates. This surge in support has enabled Israel to maintain its remarkable readiness rates even during intensive combat operations.
The contrast between Israeli and American F-35 performance offers critical lessons for future conflicts, particularly in the Pacific theater where the US military anticipates operating F-35s across vast distances with limited logistical support. Pentagon officials have acknowledged that Israel’s experience provides valuable insights into sustaining F-35 operations during high-intensity conflicts.
“Notably in Israel, we see surging sustainment support in operations that maximizes fleet readiness with 35 of 39 Israeli Air Force F-35A aircraft and exceeds expectations in combat,” noted William LaPlante, then Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. He characterized this as exemplifying “best practices for incorporating allies and partners at every phase of defense planning.”
The Israeli model demonstrates what F-35 readiness can achieve when adequate spare parts and maintenance resources are available. However, the scalability of this approach remains questionable. Surging spare parts to support dozens of aircraft during combat operations is vastly different from sustaining hundreds of F-35s across multiple theaters simultaneously.
The U.S. Air Force faces a fundamental choice: continue with the current centralized, efficiency-focused logistics model that has proven inadequate for sustained operations, or adopt elements of Israel’s more independent approach. The service has begun taking steps to address readiness challenges, including targeted investments in specific parts and maintenance capabilities that could yield disproportionate improvements.
However, these efforts may prove insufficient given the scale of the problem. The F-35 program’s original promises of reduced maintenance costs and high availability rates have not materialized, leaving the Air Force with a fleet that, while technologically advanced, struggles to maintain operational readiness.
As the Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin warned: “Our Air Force continues to be the most dominant on the planet. I don’t want to be here next year, or have the next chief, say we’re no longer [dominant]. So we’ve got to work on this.”
In short, the stark difference in F-35 readiness between the US Air Force and Israeli Air Force represents more than just a maintenance issue—it reflects fundamentally different strategic approaches to aircraft sustainment. Israel’s emphasis on operational independence, combined with prioritized U.S. support, has enabled it to achieve readiness rates that the U.S. Air Force can only aspire to reach.
For American policymakers and military leaders, the lesson is clear: the current F-35 sustainment model is inadequate for the demands of modern warfare. Whether through increased investment in spare parts and depot capacity, adoption of more independent maintenance approaches, or fundamental restructuring of the logistics system, significant changes are needed to ensure America’s most expensive military program can fulfill its intended role in national defense.
Featured photo: A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress flies alongside Israeli Air Force F-35s and F-15s over the eastern Mediterranean Sea, March 4, 2025. BTF 25-2 enhances readiness and demonstrates the U.S. commitment to NATO allies and partners through strategic bomber operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Chris Hibben).
Israel’s F-35I “Adir”: A Strategic Game-Changer in Middle East Air Power