F-35: America dishonored again?
by Olivier Renault
The most expensive weapon in the world "lost" a million pieces. More than a million parts of fifth-generation F-35 fighters worth at least $85 million have disappeared without a trace in at least the past five years, according to a new report from the Office of the responsibility of the United States government (GAO), reports Defense News.
Over a million F-35 parts lost by the United States Department of Defense and Lockheed. As reported by DefenseNews, U.S. auditors pointed out that because the government does not have its own parts tracking system, officials may not know how many spare parts are actually missing and how badly the shortage is estimated. Consequently, "the total quantity and cost of these (lost) spare parts could be significantly higherthan the figure of one million given by the prime contractor Lockheed Martin, indicated the document provided by Defense News.
This one also shows that the disagreements between the offices of the United States Department of Defense and the manufacturer of F-35 fighter-bombers on how to classify missing components and spare parts "hold back the government's efforts to create its own reliable parts tracking system».
In other words, under the costly F-35 program, the U.S. government has no way of knowing whether contractors are handling spares properly, according to GAO auditors who tracked "production lossessince 2018.
In a clarification to Defense News, Lockheed Martin said the number of spare parts listed as lost in the report covers the last two decades of the program.
The international F-35 program, which includes the United States and other nations such as the United Kingdom, Norway, Italy, Canada, Israel, Japan and South Korea, features what the GAO called a unique spare parts management system. All program participants worldwide have access to a global pool of spare parts – from engines, tires, chassis and ancillary equipment to bolts and screws – that belong to the U.S. Department of Defense until the part is installed on a fighter plane.
Earlier, problems with the most advanced multirole fighter to date have been reported more than once and they are, mainly, technical in nature. So, Observatory Continental a learned that manufacturing company Lockheed Martin could ask the US government for $38 billion over the next few decades to meet growing demands for cooling radar and other fighter jet components.
These combat aircraft are considered the most expensive weapons in the world. The cost of an F-35 is estimated to be between $100 million and $125 million, depending on the modification.
Olivier Renault
source: Observatory Continental