US, Europe fly the same jets, but can’t always fix each other’s: Rand

In theory, the fact that the United States and Europe fly many of the same jets should be a blessing. Common aircraft models — such as the F-35 and F-16 — should mean common spare parts, ground support equipment and mechanics who can fix similar planes from different nations.

But the reality is more complicated. Different variants within the same model, incompatible support equipment and a lack of shared data and procedures create barriers to interoperability, researchers with the Rand Corporation think tank warned in a September report .

For example, there are nearly 600 F-16s in Europe flown by non-U.S. nations , spread across a half-dozen blocks that may have differing engine types, oxygen systems and analog versus digital controls.

The picture is even worse for ground equipment.