Billions need to be cut from troubled F-35 fighter program, watchdog warns

The next-generation F-35 Lightning II fighter represents a growing portion of the Pentagon’s tactical aviation fleet, but high costs needed to keep them flying may mean they’re simply too expensive even for the U.S. military, the congressional watchdog Government Accountability Office said in a new report issued this week.

The Department of Defense is in the process of replacing several aging fighter aircraft models, including the A-10 Thunderbolt II and F-16 Falcon, along with the F-35. It is the Pentagon’s most ambitious and costly weapon system in history, with overall costs estimated at more than $1.7 trillion over its life cycle, officials said.

Since 2012, the F-35 upkeep costs have increased steadily, from $1.11 trillion to $1.27 trillion, despite efforts to reduce costs, according to the GAO auditors.

“The services will collectively be confronted with tens of billions [of dollars] in sustainment costs that they project as unaffordable during the problem,” the GAO report states.

The Defense Department plans to purchase nearly 2,500 F-35s. The GAO said $1.3 trillion of the costs are “associated” with operating and sustaining the aircraft. 

The analysts said the Air Force needs to reduce estimated F-35 costs per unit by $3.7 million by 2036 or it will incur more than $4 billion in costs beyond what it currently projects it could afford in that year alone.

“There is no agreed-upon approach to achieve the constraints,” the GAO analysts wrote.

The F-35 program will hit a decision point for moving into full-rate production of the aircraft somewhere between now and 2023. Congress should require the Defense Department to make annual reports on the progress in achieving affordability constraints, the GAO said. It should also make any F-35 aircraft procurement contingent on what progress the Pentagon makes in cutting future costs. 

The GAO analysts said the Defense Department partially concurred with their analysis, saying it will work to meet the intent of the GAO recommendations “in an expeditious manner.”

If it fails to deal with the looming cash crunch, “the Department of Defense may continue to invest resources in a program it ultimately cannot afford,” the GAO report stated.