“Mature” fighters—those long since fully developed, and with a logistics train well established—are expected to turn in a mission capable rate of about 70 percent. Lt. Col. Dirk Smith, 94th FS commander, said his Raptors are achieving MC rates of just under that figure … and that includes maintenance on low-observable surfaces, which typically are a headache. Such reliability in a nearly new fighter is unprecedented. In Alaska earlier this year, the goal was to fly every Raptor pilot at least 10 times in mock combat. Smith said that everybody got “12 to 13 times or more.”
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
