F-35’s Inventory Failings Are Issue in Pentagon’s Audit Failure

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has promised to produce a first-ever “clean” audit of the Pentagon by 2028, but the F-35, the costliest US weapons system, poses one of the biggest obstacles.

For the sixth straight year, failures in tracking the inventory of spare parts and equipment for the fighter jet built by Lockheed Martin Corp. were a “material weakness” contributing to the continuing inability to achieve a successful account of the military’s finances, according to the Pentagon comptroller and inspector general.