Politics · United States · 1 hr ago
GAO finds 17,000 F-35 spare parts missing from Pentagon records
The US Government Accountability Office found that about 17,000 F-35 spare parts are missing from Pentagon records.
The F-35 program uses a shared spare-parts inventory for the US Air Force, the Marine Corps and international users.
In March 2026, the inventory held about 26 million parts valued at $31 billion, while the unrecorded parts could be worth as much as $2.5 billion.
The GAO says Pentagon records are outdated, inaccurate and incomplete, and that the department has made little progress in tracking the parts since audits began in 2019.
Earlier problems remain unresolved: a contractor lost track of more than one million parts worth over $85 million between 2018 and 2022, and their status is still unknown.
Unreliable records weaken accountability and financial reporting for the F-35 parts inventory.
The US Government Accountability Office found about 17,000 F-35 spare parts missing from Pentagon records.
The parts could be worth up to $2.5 billion, according to the report.
As of March 2026, the inventory held 26 million spare parts valued at about $31 billion.
The GAO said Pentagon records were outdated, inaccurate and incomplete.
The report said problems identified in earlier audits had not been resolved.
- Who
- The Government Accountability Office reviewed Pentagon records for the F-35 program.
- What
- It found about 17,000 spare parts were not recorded in the Pentagon’s system.
- When
- The report was covered on November 13, 2026. The inventory figures are as of March 2026.
- Where
- In the Pentagon’s records for the F-35 spare-parts inventory.
- Why
- The report examined inventory management and accountability. A reason for the missing records was not stated.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Audits identified multiple shortcomings in the F-35 program’s inventory management.
A main contractor lost track of more than 1 million F-35 spare parts worth over $85 million, according to a 2023 GAO report.
About 6 percent of records in a data set valued F-35 parts at $0.01 or less.
The inventory contained 26 million spare parts valued at about $31 billion, including about 17,000 parts missing from Pentagon records.
Milliyet reported on the GAO findings.
- Unrecorded parts
- About 17,000
- Potential value of unrecorded parts
- Up to $2.5 billion
- Inventory as of March 2026
- 26 million parts worth about $31 billion
- Earlier parts-tracking loss
- More than 1 million parts worth over $85 million, during 2018–2022
- Data errors
- About 6 percent of December 2025 records listed parts at $0.01 or less
What people are saying
The Department of Defense has made very little progress in achieving and sustaining accountability for F-35 parts