Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives on contract breaches and other failures under the F-35 aircraft program.

Legislation Details

The F-35 program was initiated by the Department of Defense in 2001 to develop a fifth-generation fighter aircraft.
It is the most expensive weapon system, with estimated lifetime costs exceeding $2 trillion.
The program is over a decade delayed and has incurred an additional cost of $209 billion beyond initial projections.
A Nunn-McCurdy breach occurred in March 2010 due to a unit cost increase of over 50%.
The program’s baseline schedule has been revised four times since 2012 due to development delays.
Current operational costs for the Air Force are significantly higher than originally planned, with annual costs per aircraft rising from $4.1 million to $6.8 million.
No F-35 variant met its performance goals for mission capable rates from fiscal years 2019 to 2023.
The average readiness rates for the F-35 fleet are 53.1% mission capable and 29.3% full mission capable, well below the Department of Defense’s targets.
Inadequate depot capacity has contributed to a 10% reduction in mission capable rates.
A significant percentage of F-35 parts are sent back to industry for repairs due to lack of depot capacity.
The F-35 fleet’s projected flight hours have decreased by 21% due to high operational costs.
Pratt & Whitney, responsible for the engines, has consistently delivered engines late, with 97% of engines delivered late in 2022.
The engine overhaul frequency has increased from every 2,000 flight hours to every 1,600 due to power and cooling limitations.
Lockheed Martin has delivered a majority of aircraft late, with 91% of deliveries in 2023 being delayed.
Production defects have led to increased rework and repair times for Lockheed Martin.
Delays in hardware and software upgrades have prevented the acceptance of aircraft deliveries for over a year.
The delayed upgrades have also postponed necessary modernization efforts to address emerging threats.
General CQ Brown has acknowledged serious issues with the F-35 program and suggested exploring new, cost-effective alternatives.
The resolution expresses that Lockheed Martin and its subcontractors have breached their contract and that the Department of Defense has failed to hold them accountable for these failures.

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives on contract breaches and other failures under the F-35 aircraft program.

Cosponsors