Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Deferred
Overall F-35 capability and availability remain inadequate, lacking standoff weapons and stealth assessment
Recommendation
Although the F-35 is significantly superior to any previous UK aircraft, the Department has yet to achieve the capability or availability that it wants.19 Most significant is the lack of the standoff weapon.20 This will limit the UK’s ability to conduct certain missions in contested environments.21 The Department also told us that it had delayed building its sovereign Air Signature Assessment Facility (ASAF) to measure the stealth 12 Q 83 13 Q 81 14 Qq 88, 109 15 Q 104 16 Q 85 17 C&AG’s Report, para 1.21 18 Q 87 19 Qq 85, 104 20 Q 88 21 C&AG’s Report, para 1.11 8 characteristics of UK F-35 aircraft.22 Furthermore, aircraft availability is poor. The UK F-35 fleet achieved approximately one-third of the MoD target for the time it was able to fly all its required missions in 2024, and achieved only two-fifths of the level of availability of the global F-35B fleet between October 2024 and January 2025.23 The Department acknowledged that it was not getting the F-35 availability it wanted.24
Government Response Summary
The government will set out its approach to delivering the Strategic Defence Review and the investments required to deliver the Integrated Force in the forthcoming Defence Investment Plan, including details on the standoff capability requirement.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
2a. PAC recommendation: The Department should set out in the Defence Investment Plan how it will ensure a standoff capability in the coming years before Spear 3 is fully integrated onto the aircraft. 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: November 2027 2.2 The forthcoming Defence Investment Plan will set out the government’s approach to delivering the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) and the investments required to deliver the Integrated Force. This will provide details of the government’s balance of investment across the full range of military capabilities, including the capability requirement identified by the Committee.