On December 13, the Power** Theater Military column published an article signed by Howard Altman and Taylor Rogovey, saying that Israel's ability to maintain the flight of the vast majority of F-35I** fighters in the fast-paced operation against Hamas was indeed an eye-opener for the Pentagon.
Based on this, the author believes that the combat experience of Israel's F-35I** fighter can provide extremely important lessons and points worthy of Xi and reference for the US military in the Pacific operations that may break out in the future.
Netizens who pay attention to the F-35 series of joint attack fighters developed by the Luo Ma company know that this fifth-generation ** combat that compresses the cost of procurement and equipment can be seen from its official title only from its official title This is a military aircraft that focuses on ground attack and has attack capabilities.
When the world's first fourth-generation fighter (later the United States also recognized Russia's classification standards for fighters, and the world generally referred to the first-generation fighter as the fifth-generation fighter) F-22 was in service, the United States engaged in the so-called "4S" standard of the first fighter, that is, performance, supermaneuverability, supersonic cruise, and high situational awareness on the battlefield.
The F-35 is a single-engine fighter with a maximum flight speed of 1Mach 6, it does not have supersonic cruise and supermaneuverability, that is, in the so-called "4S" standard for the first fighter jet engaged in by the United States back then, the F-35 can only meet two of the conditions. However, the United States still classifies the F-35 series of military aircraft as a fifth-generation ** fighter, which seems to be a little difficult.
The F-35 is a "jack-of-all-trades" military aircraft, which has become the F-35A Air Force land-based version, the F-35C sea-based version and the F-35B Marine Corps vertical take-off and landing version, which is not only expensive to purchase equipment, but also extremely cumbersome to maintain, which seriously affects the frequency of use of the F-35, resulting in its attendance rate has been low.
Overall, F-35** fighters remain struggling in terms of combat readiness, with only about 55 percent of F-35s operated by the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps barely performing at least one mission, according to a report released on December 12.
This report about the status of the F-35** fighters of the US Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps on a mission really embarrassed the Pentagon. Especially in wartime, with 55% of the F-35 fleet's attendance, it was clear that it was not up to the task, and the military's concerns about maintaining its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter by propping up the logistics model began to rise sharply.
On 7 October, a large-scale conflict broke out between Palestine and Israel, and at least 35 of the 39 F-35I** fighters purchased and equipped by the Israeli Air Force from the Lo Mar company maintained the ability to take off and be ready for combat at all times, maximizing the combat readiness of the ** fleet, and exceeding expectations in ground attack operations, leaving a deep impression on the top of the Pentagon.
The F-35I** fighter plane purchased and equipped by the Israeli Air Force and the F-35A of the US Air Force, the F-35C of the Navy, and the F-35B of the Marine Corps are all derived from this joint attack fighter developed by the Lo Ma Company, but the use of them by the US and Israeli forces is in extremely sharp contrast.
*The Accountability Office (GAO) highlighted Israel's initiative to establish an improved system to sustain the F-35, which allows it to avoid the problems encountered by the U.S. side. The implication is that the US military should Xi learn from the Israeli Air Force in the use and maintenance of F-35 series military aircraft and in improving the attendance rate of their missions.
The F-35I "Adir"** fighter intercepted and destroyed a cruise missile launched from the southeast into Israeli airspace during the mission, and was the first case of a fighter jet exploding a cruise missile in actual combat. In addition, the F-35I has achieved good combat examples in attacks on ground targets in Syria and the Gaza Strip.
So much so that Air Force Lieutenant General Michael Schmidt, executive officer and director of the F-35 Lightning II program, testified before a subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee that he praised the Israeli Air Force's achievements with the F-35i Adil ** fighter jet, saying that "they are highly mission-capable and we can learn a lot from them." ”
In the Pacific, maintaining the notorious ability to support intensive F-35** fighters in a vast and contentious theater of operations will remain a major challenge for the U.S. military. Air Force Lieutenant General Michael Schmidt believes that the lessons learned by the Israeli F-35I during military operations are especially important in preparing for combat in the Pacific.
The results of several war games by the U.S. military show that there are almost no spare parts on the shelves of the F-35** fighter unit to keep the military aircraft flying continuously to improve attendance. For the F-35** fighter fleet, reducing the cost of use and maintenance, and improving the ability of the F-35 to perform tasks is indeed an extremely severe test.
The unfinished picture of this article can reveal the reasons for the low attendance rate of the F-35** fighters in service in the US military, and the challenges are especially reflected in the logistics aspect, that is, the complexity of the logistics chain and maintenance of the fuselage parts, which will still seriously restrict the further improvement of the integrity rate and attendance rate of the F-35 series ** fighters. 