oops! More than 1 million spare parts for F-35 fighter jets have disappeared in the US US debt drama ends: avoiding government bankruptcy

In the US, more than a million spare parts for the F-35 fighter jets have gone missing in the past five years. According to a report by the US Court of Auditors, there is no system to track the parts. It is therefore unclear how many spare parts are actually in the global spare parts pool.

The «full amount and its value [verlorenen] Spare parts can be significantly higher,” the Court of Auditors writes in the report.

The United States Department of Defense manages the spare parts pool, which is available to all states with an F-35 fighter jet. Switzerland has ordered 36 F-35 fighter jets. Delivery of the first eight aircraft is scheduled for 2027.

No impact on Switzerland

The U.S. Department of Defense never expected it would have to stockpile spare parts for other countries, Blick reported. Because no part tracking system was ever developed, manufacturing companies Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney are still responsible. The process has become increasingly opaque as spare parts have ended up in different systems from the two manufacturers.

According to the Swiss Ministry of Defense DDPS, the report of the US Court of Audit has no impact on Switzerland. Switzerland has a contractual guarantee that the necessary spare parts for the F-35A are available, the DDPS writes in a statement. The report also does not criticize the F-35’s logistics system, but rather the United States Department of Defense’s financial accounts for spare parts. (aeg/sda)