The Department of Defense continues to have unreliable records for approximately $31 billion worth of parts for the F-35 aircraft, according to a Government Accountability Office report published Monday.
The F-35 program has about 26 million parts at over 700 contractor- and government-managed locations worldwide. The GAO said the Defense Department’s records for these parts are outdated, incomplete, and inaccurate. Without accurate data and proper inventory procedures, department management lacks information needed for warfighter readiness and reliable financial reporting.
The F-35 Joint Program Office does not monitor part losses or record all parts during physical inventories, the GAO said. As of March 2026, the office did not know the status of over $85 million in lost parts that the GAO previously reported in 2023. Without procedures to review losses, the office cannot determine the full extent of missing parts, limiting its ability to mitigate future losses or detect theft, fraud, and waste.
The GAO attributed the accountability issues partly to inadequate training and procedures for staff. The program has not established a fully functioning property accountability program to guide officers responsible for the assets.
The F-35 is the most costly weapon system in Defense Department history, with life-cycle cost estimates exceeding $1.9 trillion. The GAO report recommended that the department develop and document procedures to monitor part losses and conduct trend analyses to enable mitigation of future losses. It also recommended establishing program-specific procedures, structure, and training for accountable property officers.
The Department of Defense agreed with all four recommendations and stated it is taking steps to address them, the GAO said.