GAO urges DOD to tighten oversight of $31 billion in F-35 parts
The Department of Defense must adopt program-specific procedures and training for accountable property officers, per a GAO report released March 2026.
A GAO report (GAO-22-105002) finds the Department of Defense continues to struggle with accounting for the F-35 program's roughly 26 million parts, valued at approximately $31 billion and stored at over 700 contractor- and government-managed facilities worldwide. Records in the program's accountable property system of record are described as outdated, inaccurate and incomplete, and physical inventory procedures have not reliably verified the existence or completeness of those parts.
The report notes that as of March 2026 the F-35 Joint Program Office could not determine the status of lost parts valued at over $85 million, and it lacks procedures for reviewing losses reported at government-managed sites. Without reliable data and effective loss-monitoring, the office's ability to detect fraud, waste or theft and to support warfighter readiness is impaired.
GAO issued four open recommendations directing the Secretary of Defense to ensure that the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, in coordination with the F-35 Program Executive Officer and the Defense Contract Management Agency, develop, document and implement: (1) procedures for monitoring loss submissions and conducting trend analyses; (2) program-specific procedures for accountable property officers (APOs) to perform their duties; (3) training for those APOs; and (4) a clarified structure for the APO program, including staffing levels and time commitments. The Department of Defense has concurred with all four recommendations and cited actions it is taking.
The department is also moving toward including F-35 parts on its agency-wide financial statements, developing valuation methods for parts lacking cost information, and reviewing related procedures. The GAO assessment fulfills Title 31's mandate to audit the U.S. government's consolidated financial statements and underscores the need for improved asset accountability and financial reporting for the $1.9 trillion life-cycle cost program.
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