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Pentagon Can’t Account for Thousands of F-35 Parts, GAO Says

  • Lack of accountability seen as symptom of audit failures
  • US, allies tap into a common spare parts pool for fighter
The Pentagon building in Arlington, Virginia.

The Pentagon building in Arlington, Virginia.

Photographer: Tom Brenner/Bloomberg
Updated on

The Pentagon can’t account for hundreds of thousands of spare parts worth millions of dollars that are stored worldwide for the US and allies that use its costliest weapon, the F-35 jet, according to congressional auditors.

The findings by the Government Accountability Office offer a concrete current example of “material weaknesses” in the Pentagon’s financial management that resulted in the military’s failure to pass a department-wide audit for the fifth consecutive year, according to the review that was released Tuesday.