Recommendations & Conclusions
6 items
4
Conclusion
51st Report - The UK’s F-35 stealth fig…
Acknowledged
Accommodation at RAF Marham is substandard, exacerbating issues with recruitment and retention. Despite the urgent need to address this, upgrades will not be completed under current plans until 2034. RAF Marham has been the main F-35 operating base since 2013, with at least 1,500 people working there on the F-35, …
Government response. The government agreed to prioritize improvements to RAF Marham accommodation and committed to reassessing the current timescale against departmental priorities, writing to the Committee by May 2026 to advise if the completion date can be brought forward.
HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
51st Report - The UK’s F-35 stealth fig…
Acknowledged
The Department has taken a narrow and short-term approach to management and costs and has failed to realistically appraise the programme’s whole-life cost. The Department acknowledges that it reduced the pace of aircraft deliveries to make short-term financial savings at multiple points in the programme, notably in 2010. In 2021 …
Government response. The government agreed to include all non-equipment costs in whole-life cost forecasts, stating it already develops such models but accepts there is an opportunity to go further and will strengthen its approach as part of Defence Reform.
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
51st Report - The UK’s F-35 stealth fig…
Acknowledged
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Ministry of Defence (the Department) on its oversight and management of the UK’s F-35 fighter programme.1
Government response. The government agreed with the committee's implicit recommendation on oversight, stating it will continue to strengthen its approach to defining and approving capability entry-into-service criteria and declaring service entry for new capabilities as part of Defence Reform.
HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
51st Report - The UK’s F-35 stealth fig…
Acknowledged
The Department also told us that the 2025 CSG deployment, required for FOC declaration, had impacted availability before the deployment and would impact availability for some weeks after the deployment, because of the need for additional maintenance.16 The National Audit Office’s report noted that the impact of the deployment on …
Government response. The department acknowledges the factors affecting aircraft availability and is increasing the number of aircraft engineers, supporting the US-led F-35 Joint Programme Office, and planning further investments in F-35 technical infrastructure.
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
51st Report - The UK’s F-35 stealth fig…
Acknowledged
The Department also set out the reasons for poor availability of aircraft. It accepted that shortages of personnel, particularly engineers, impacted aircraft availability, and would continue to do so until they were resolved.30 Furthermore, the Department told us that the Global Support Solution, which supplies spare parts, is being reset …
Government response. The department is increasing the number of aircraft engineers to align with Force readiness requirements, and is supporting the US-led F-35 Joint Programme Office in efforts to reset the Global Support Solution to improve performance and increase spares availability. The …
HM Treasury
26
Conclusion
51st Report - The UK’s F-35 stealth fig…
Acknowledged
In 2013 the Department set out a whole-life cost for the F-35 programme of £18.4 billion, although this only covered the first 48 aircraft out of the 138 that the UK has announced it intends to buy. Before the publication of the National Audit Office report in 2025 this figure …
Government response. The department will continue to strengthen its approach to whole life cost modelling as part of the work that is being taken forward under Defence Reform. The department already develops whole life cost models that extend beyond equipment costs, for …
HM Treasury