Snowballing Delays In F-35 Development Lead To Increased DOD Risk, GAO Says

‘If DOD moves forward as planned, it will have bought a third of all F-35s before determining that the aircraft is ready to move into the full-rate production phase,’ GAO warned.

Kimberly Johnson

Wednesday, April 27, 2022 at 09:23 AM ET

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A magnet on the F-35 turbomachine includes cobalt and samarium alloy determined to be produced in China. [Courtesy: Department of Defense]

Key Takeaways:

The Department of Defense (DOD) is prematurely purchasing F-35 fighters at near full production rates before operational testing is complete, leading to increased financial risk.
Operational testing for the F-35 program is stalled due to significant delays in developing a crucial simulator needed to evaluate the fighter's performance and reliability.
Buying aircraft before testing means that any performance issues identified later will be more expensive to fix, adding to already rising program costs, including a $741 million jump in the Block 4 modernization development.

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The Department of Defense (DOD) is facing extra financial risk amid already rising program costs by buying F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters before operational testing is completed, according to a new report issued by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The DOD is planning to buy up to 152 F-35 aircraft annually, despite the fact the program remains stalled in operational testing due to holdups in developing the F-35 simulator that is crucial in determining the performance and reliability of the fighter, the GAO said.