US Marine Corps Do Not Have Enough Pilots, Maintainers For F-35 Aircraft - Commandant

The US Marine Corps does not have sufficient personnel to fly and service its current and projected fleet of the F-35 jets as it continues to lose the competition to the civilian sector, Marine Corps Commandant David Berger said in a congressional testimony on Thursday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th April, 2021) The US Marine Corps does not have sufficient personnel to fly and service its current and projected fleet of the F-35 jets as it continues to lose the competition to the civilian sector, Marine Corps Commandant David Berger said in a congressional testimony on Thursday.

"We are not maintaining sufficient numbers of naval aviators and F-35 maintainers to sustain either our existing inventory of aircraft or aircraft programmed for the years to come. Within our F-35 community, we have a shortfall of both pilots and maintainers," Berger told the US House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

Berger explained that the military services, including the Marine Corps, continue to lose the competition with the airline industry for personnel and even the adverse impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the civilian sector failed to improve the situation.

Unless these shortfalls are remedied in "the very near future," the Marines may find themselves in a situation "in which we are directed by Congress to procure aircraft for which we have insufficient pilots and maintainers," Berger said.