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A new report released Tuesday by the congressional watchdog Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed that the Pentagon cannot account for thousands of spare parts for F-35 fighter jets that are stored around the globe for both the U.S. and its allies. The missing parts are worth millions of dollars and call into question why the government is in talks with Lockheed for a new F-35 spare parts deal.
Perhaps the government should try locating the missing parts before agreeing to a deal with Lockheed that would overhaul the entire system in place for replacing parts for the jets.
The issue of the missing parts is also compounded by the fact that the Department of Defense (DOD) has failed to pass a DOD-wide audit for the fifth straight year.
The GAO report also confirmed that the Pentagon's F-35 program does not provide oversight for the spare parts that have gone missing.
U.S. allies don't own parts and have to tap into the Defense Department's global shared pool of spare parts when repairs need to be made. The parts used can be everything from engines and landing gear to tires and bolts. There is no accountability for the parts "the total value of which is unknown," the GAO said.
It is allegedly the responsibility of manufacturer Lockheed Martin to "track" the parts considering that the Pentagon has been unable to provide any information including cost, quantity, or locations of spare parts in the global pool for the F-35.
The GAO report noted that the lack of accountability for the inventory of spare parts "increases the risk of misstatement on DOD's financial statements and the risk of mismanagement of the F-35 global spares pool."
The GAO report bombshell comes the same week that top U.S. officials confirmed several media reports that defense contractor price-gouging is commonplace regarding the defense budget. Former Pentagon workers have said that the Biden administration's blank check method for handing out military aid to Ukraine has led to a flood of U.S. arms pouring into Kyiv "no matter the expense." The outpouring of U.S. arms to Ukraine has contributed to the problem by creating a diminished desire to put time and effort into audits for expensive things like F-35 fighter jet parts and other expensive equipment that have been misplaced, according to Zerohedge.
While the Pentagon struggles to keep track of its current inventory it has continued to modernize its fleet of combat aircraft and strategically give them to U.S. allies such as Japan, South Korea, and Germany in an effort to create a circle of friends comprised of fifth-generation fighter jets around its biggest enemies, Russia and China.
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In light of the fact that "president" Biden is casting billions of dollars of American armaments, vehicles, and weapon systems into the wind, this story kind of fits right in though is likely been a longer term problem? I fully expect the literal billions of dollars of lost weaponry, supplies, vehicles etc. to wind up being used against us.
Hunter sold them to China and Ukraine.
When the iranians and ms-13 are rampaging CONUS, I'm NOT going to worry about them...I have >2000 home addresses of politicians to thank....."vigorously thank".
I'll bet they can't even prove they were delivered