Pentagon Can’t Track 17,000 F-35 Parts Worth $1.3 Billion, Watchdog Finds
The Pentagon cannot reliably account for the spare parts keeping America’s most expensive fighter jet flying, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The report, released on Monday 9 November, found that the F-35 Joint Program Office does not keep complete records of roughly 26 million spare parts worth about $31 billion, at more than 700 facilities worldwide. As of March 2026, about 17,000 components in maintenance or repair — valued at roughly $1.3 billion — had never been entered into the programme’s inventory system at all.
What the watchdog found
The F-35 Lightning II is flown by the US Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, as well as a long list of allies, all drawing on a shared global pool of spares. The report, GAO-27-108713, concluded that the records behind that pool are “inaccurate and incomplete” and are not updated in real time. Breaking Defense reported that officials lack a clear picture of where as much as $2.5 billion worth of components sits across the aircraft’s global supply chain.
Nor is the problem new: a May 2023 GAO report found that a prime contractor had lost more than one million spare parts, worth over $85 million, between May 2018 and October 2022. The new report says that as of March 2026, the programme office still did not know the status of those parts. Military.com reported that the parts remain unresolved three years after auditors first identified their losses.
The GAO was careful about what it did not find: the report does not say the parts were stolen, and it does not estimate how many of the 26 million parts are actually missing.
A system that does not talk to itself
At the centre of the problem is the programme’s official property system, the Enterprise Logistics Management System (ELMS). The GAO found that ELMS can capture inventory changes in real time, but it cannot connect to the property systems run by the two prime contractors, Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney — a gap auditors first flagged in 2022. The programme office also lacks procedures for checking contractor data before entry, and property officers lack the training they need.
The GAO warned that without procedures for monitoring reported losses, the office will not know the full extent of losses and will be less able to detect fraud, waste or theft. The auditors also said the failures have contributed to the Defense Department’s inability to pass its own financial audits — the GAO’s third report on F-35 financial management since 2019, which found “minimal progress” on earlier advice: 26 of 34 recommendations remain open.
The Hong Kong shipment
The report landed as the Pentagon investigates how F-35 components shipped from Australia for repair in the United States ended up in Hong Kong. The shipment, including a radar-absorbent cockpit canopy and a weapons-bay door, was diverted in transit, and some components remain unaccounted for months later. The House Armed Services Committee is examining the case.
The GAO did not link that incident to the inventory problems, and no authority has said China arranged the diversion. The episode underlines why the record-keeping matters: the jet’s supply chain moves sensitive components through third-party shippers, and the tracking system cannot say with confidence where they are.
The findings land as the Pentagon faces other security headaches, including the charges against an alleged Iranian operative over a plot at RAF Fairford and a US Army soldier arrested in Britain on suspicion of spying for Russia, while the Royal Navy’s £90 million Atlantic Net programme tracks Russian submarines.
What happens next
The GAO issued four recommendations, calling on the Pentagon to strengthen oversight of reported losses and set clearer procedures and training for property officers. The F-35 Joint Program Office said it was developing procedures and training for those officers and improving how losses are monitored. The Defense Contract Audit Agency is working on a full inventory of F-35 parts, with the first complete count targeted for March 2027.
The Pentagon’s Global Support Solution Reset strategy calls for about $13.7 billion in additional sustainment investment through fiscal 2031, including more than $7 billion for spare parts. The GAO warned that without reliable records, the department may be unable to identify what it actually needs — or to account for what it buys.
Frequently asked questions
How many F-35 parts are unaccounted for?
As of March 2026, about 17,000 parts in maintenance or repair, worth roughly $1.3 billion, had never been entered into the inventory system. More than one million parts worth over $85 million, first flagged as lost in 2023, also remain unresolved.
Were the parts stolen?
The GAO report does not say the parts were stolen. It says the government’s records do not show where they are.
Does this affect whether the jets can fly?
The report does not say aircraft are grounded, but it warns that poor records leave officials unable to tell whether available parts reach the aircraft that need them.
