Military Brass gives report. 74% are not combat ready

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Navy’s ability to use these planes is now greatly hindered as more than 60 percent of the jets are out of service.

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That number is even worse for the Marine Corps, where 74 percent of its F-18s – some of the oldest in service – are not ready for combat operations.

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“Our long-term readiness continues its insidious decline,” Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. William Moran testified Wednesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

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While we are still able to put our first team on the field, our bench is largely depleted.”

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“It’s a simple matter of supply can’t meet demand,” Moran said.

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The Air Force is the branch of the military that arguably is in the most dire straits, with aircraft numbers falling from 8,600 in 1991 to 5,500 today. There are 55 fighter squadrons, down from 134, and less than 50 percent of its combat forces are “sufficiently ready for a highly contested fight against peer adversaries,” Air Force Vice Chief Gen. Stephen W. Wilson said in reference to countries like Russia and China.

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But they’re not ready in the sense that they are not prepared to take on a peer adversary like Russia or China.”

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