Eddy on new Swiss stealth jet: Pentagon can no longer find spare parts for F-35

A 2020 report listed 873 software defects. There were also problems with the on-board gun’s accuracy. American politicians in particular decided not to cancel the program because it simply contained far too much money. Doubts also arose in the Swiss army.

The latest problem: The Pentagon has completely lost track of the tens of thousands of multimillion-dollar spare parts. The US Court of Auditors, which reports directly to Congress, criticizes this in a recently published report.

US Court of Audit admits “poor picture”

Not only the US military uses the F-35, but also numerous other countries – from 2027 Switzerland will be added. The Pentagon therefore maintains a spare parts pool that is distributed around the world for allies to fall back on.

The bad thing is that the Pentagon doesn’t have a system that allows for inventory review, the 35-page report reads. There is a “cloudy image”. It is unclear how many spare parts are in the pool, how many were lost or what was paid for them.

The U.S. military never expected to one day stockpile spare parts for other nations. Because no inventory system was ever developed, manufacturing companies Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney are still responsible.

The process has become increasingly opaque as spare parts ended up in different systems of the two manufacturing companies – and were stored in dozens of locations that are neither owned by the US government nor by either company.

“We Have Always Warned”

Anja Gada of the group Switzerland Without Army (GSoA) is not very surprised. “If the US already doesn’t know who owns which spare parts, where to get them, where they are and which ones are missing, how can the ‘security of supply’ of this aircraft be guaranteed for dozens of countries in the future?” she asks.

“We have always warned about the pitfalls of purchasing F-35s,” said GSoA Secretary Gada. Therefore, more than 100,000 signatures were collected against it – but Defense Secretary Viola Amherd (60) prevented a vote, Gada continued. At best, Switzerland now has the salad: “Without replacement part deliveries, a fighter jet becomes useless and can no longer even perform air police duties.”

The defense department of Central Federal Councilor Viola Amherd also seems to be struggling with the situation. Even after more than two days, Blick has not yet received any written questions from the Federal Armaments Bureau (Armasuisse).

Most expensive weapon in US military history

The US Court of Auditors has now given the Pentagon four recommendations to get things back under control. All four agreed, but had to realize that one of the production companies was getting in the way. The arms company is not mentioned.

To date, Lockheed Martin has produced and delivered more than 900 F-35s to the US military and allies such as Italy, Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea and Great Britain. The Pentagon estimates it will have to pay $1.7 trillion over its lifetime for the F-35. It is the most expensive weapon in US military history.