World’s Costliest Weapons Program Failed to Hit Readiness Marks for Six Years, GAO Says
- Falling short despite spending $12 billion over that period
- F-35 manager declared ‘War on Readiness’ to improve rates
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All versions of the F-35, the world’s costliest weapons program, have failed to meet minimum combat readiness rates for six straight years, according to the watchdog agency for Congress.
That’s despite the Army, Navy and Marine Corps spending $12 billion, or about 21%, of $57.2 billion for aircraft operations and maintenance appropriated by Congress during that time on the fighter jet built by Lockheed Martin Corp., according to a Government Accountability Office tally released Monday.