The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a series of recommendations to the Department of Defense (DOD) regarding efforts to sustain its growing F-35 aircraft fleet.
The GAO said the F-35 fighter plays a key role in the nation’s defense. As of October, the United States and international partners had fielded more than 435 of an expected 3,300 aircraft.
The GAO maintains the DOD has challenges keeping the fleet ready to perform its mission because of insufficient planning. Spare parts shortages and poor performance of the information technology system used to sustain the aircraft are among the obstacles.
The F-35 is the DOD’s most costly weapon system, per the GAO, with costs estimated at more than $1 trillion over its life cycle. The DOD has determined it will need to significantly reduce F-35 costs, by 43 percent per aircraft, per year, in the case of the Air Force, in order for the military services to operate the F-35 as planned.
To that end, the GAO has issued 21 recommendations related to the DOD challenges. The DOD generally concurred with all 21 recommendations.
DOD’s continued attention to the recommendations is needed to successfully operate and sustain the F-35 fleet over the long term within budgetary realities, per the GAO.