After a US watchdog report earlier this week said that the American fleet of F-35 stealth fighters has seen reduced readiness and usability as maintenance issues drag down mission-capable rates, Israeli sources said that their F-35s were faring better.
Multiple Israeli sources said that the Jewish state's F-35s have remained more combat-ready than the report detailed for American F-35s, though none were willing to provide specific numbers they would stand behind.
One source suggested that Israeli maintenance standards may be higher.
Israel certainly has needed to use its F-35 aircraft more often in recent years than the US has.
The Lockheed Martin-produced F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons system, with the grand total of acquisition and sustainment costs expected to top $2 trillion.
Issues plague US F-35 flight capabilities
However, according to a report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), just as aircraft and maintenance costs have risen, persistent problems have limited how often the aircraft can fly.
According to the report, the American military has invested billions of dollars to improve readiness, but these efforts have failed to deliver results.
The GAO report said that the mission-capable rate for one mission fell from 67% to 44% between 2021 and 2025, while the full mission-capable rate dropped from 38% to 25%.
Next, the report flagged several problems that contributed to the decline, such as spare-part shortages and software issues.
Although the Pentagon is trying to reverse the trend by investing $13.7 billion in readiness, the lag time to see a practical impact could be measured in years, and the funds earmarked so far may be insufficient.
This could perpetuate current problems, such as overreliance on contractors for support, parts capacity constraints, and cost gaps in keeping the F-35 running throughout its life cycle.
In the past, there have even been instances in which F-35s crashed, leading to the grounding of both Israeli and US F-35s for months.
However, during Israel's wars from 2023 to 2026, the F-35 has often been the lead fighter in multiple rounds versus Iran, and has also had a key role on other fronts.