Availability depends partly on fleet size relative to tasking. The example assumes Britain should have reached about 90 F-35s by this point, yet was assigning roughly 60 aircraft's work to a fleet still well short of 60. High operating tempo increases maintenance pressure. Little spare capacity remains to absorb unavailable aircraft. Prolonged underbuying creates the same lack of spare capacity across Western procurement.
Notable Point · 3:01:40-3:02:40
F-35B availability and the cost of a small fleet
Too few aircraft carrying a larger fleet's workload leave little room for maintenance.