Akshay DidwaniyaThe US Defense Department has yet to find out what happened to F-35 spare parts worth over $85 million that went missing in 2023, a government audit shows.
Pentagon Still Has No Answers on Missing Jet Parts
The US Defense Department still does not know where a large batch of F-35 spare parts ended up. The parts, built for the fifth generation fighter jet, are worth more than $85 million. Officials first flagged them as missing back in 2023. A new report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) shows the case remains open.
The report is blunt about the current situation. “As of March 2026, the F-35 Joint Program Office had no information on the status of the lost F-35 spare parts worth more than $85 million, which the US Government Accountability Office reported in 2023,” the document states.
Weak Tracking and No Real Investigations
Auditors found that the responsible Pentagon office does not keep proper records of missing components. It also lacks effective procedures to investigate losses at government and contractor sites. Without regular monitoring, the Defense Department cannot measure the true scale of its losses. That multiplies the risk of fraud, waste and outright theft.
A Massive Program Spread Across the Globe
The F-35 program covers about 26 million parts worth $31 billion. Those parts sit at more than 700 sites around the world. Auditors say Pentagon databases are incomplete. Inventory checks also fail to prove that the parts are really sitting in warehouses. The auditors warned that these tracking gaps hit the combat readiness of the American military directly.
Mayur Mohta
Aditya Didwaniya