Pentagon Struggles to Track F-35 Spare Parts, Over 1 Million Missing

• •Over 1 million F-35 spare parts worth $85 million are unaccounted for.
• •The Pentagon's tracking system is outdated and lacks real-time data integration.
• •The GAO has criticized the DoD's minimal progress in resolving these tracking issues.

The Pentagon is unable to track millions of F-35 spare parts, with over 1 million parts worth at least $85 million reported lost. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report highlights that the Department of Defense (DoD) has outdated and incomplete records, making it difficult to ascertain the total number and value of missing parts. The F-35 program, which relies on a joint pool of spares for multiple branches of the military, has approximately 26 million spare parts valued at around $31 billion. The GAO noted that the tracking system does not interface with prime contractors' property management systems, leading to delays in identifying lost items. Issues with inventory tracking have persisted for years, with minimal progress reported since the problems were first identified in 2019. The F-35 Joint Program Office continues to depend on quarterly data from contractors, which may be outdated by several months. As of now, the status of many parts remains unknown, raising concerns about accountability and management of the spares pool.