Troubled Lockheed F-35 Risks More Groundings on Lack of Working Engines
- GAO warns of $1 billion in annual engine support costs by 2028
- Watchdog agency cites ‘inadequate maintenance depot capacity’
An attendee takes a photograph of an F-35 jet, manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp., at the Singapore Airshow.
Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
A shortage of spare engines may leave some F-35s grounded because it’s taking longer than planned to repair a key component for the US’s costliest warplane, according to congressional auditors.
“Inadequate maintenance depot capacity leading to a shortage of operating” engines has “grounded F-35s more often and for longer time periods than expected,” the Government Accountability Office said in a new report Tuesday.