According to an audit from the US GAO, over 1 million F-35 spare parts have been lost over the last five years worth around $85 million.
The F-35 program is a multinational effort involving countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, Italy, Canada, Israel, Japan, and South Korea. The program has a distinctive approach to managing spare parts, as identified by the GAO. A global pool of spare parts is available to all program participants worldwide. The pool comprises everything from engines, tires, landing gear, support equipment, bolts, and screws.
Lockheed Martin has announced that it is collaborating with the F-35 Joint Program Office and the Defense Contract Management Agency to ensure that they possess the necessary documentation to facilitate the disposal of components deemed "excess, obsolete, or unserviceable" by their personnel. “Lockheed Martin manages F-35 spare part inventory in compliance with contract requirements,” the company told Defense News.
According to an email from the F-35 program office to Defense News, they acknowledge the recommendations by GAO to enhance spare parts tracking. However, they also stated that they know the location of most F-35 spare parts in the global supply chain. The Defense Department office cited the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement rules, which state that programs should aim for 95% accuracy in their recorded inventories. They also confirmed that the F-35 program had surpassed this goal.
“At this time, our error rate is around 1%,” the program office said. “While this is considered much better than the government goal of 5%, we will continue to work with the services and our industry partners to improve spare parts accountability and drive readiness for our warfighters,” they added. According to the JPO, spare parts for the F-35 are monitored using a non-government system. However, efforts are underway to shift this data to a government system in collaboration with the industry. The recent report by GAO auditors suggests that William LaPlante, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, should ensure that all spare F-35 parts across the globe are accurately categorized and accounted for under a contract.
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