Follow us on social

Shutterstock_1180390786-scaled

Congressman to F-35 contractors: 'what in the hell are you doing?'

Lawmakers find out that the DoD's premier fighter can't pass tests and will cost $1.3 trillion over its lifetime to sustain.

Analysis | North America

In a tense House Subcommittee on Readiness hearing on Thursday, several lawmakers questioned Department of Defense officials overseeing the F-35 fighter program, which had been the subject of a Government Accountability Office report released Monday detailing major, unresolved defects with the plane.

In his opening statement, Chair of the Subcommittee Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) laid out the issues of sustainment — a term referring to logistical challenges including operating and support costs, aircraft availability, supply chain management, and mission capability — facing the most expensive weapons system in Pentagon history: 

“Over the past few years, it has become abundantly clear that sustainment is the most acute long-term challenge facing the F-35 program. Sustainment will amount to more than 80 percent of the program’s total lifecycle costs, at a mind-boggling $1.3 trillion. Largely because of supply issues and poor reliability and maintainability, average F-35 mission capability rates are barely over 55 percent, with a paltry 30 percent of the aircraft capable of performing all of their assigned missions.” 

Lieutenant General Eric Fick, who oversees the program, was coy with his answers, often claiming there have been funding issues, or deflecting the blame to contractors and maintaining that the F-35 program has “made significant progress.” 

Of particular focus was the Autonomic Logistics Information (ALIS) — the plane's information infrastructure which, according to the GAO report, has faced “long-standing challenges, including technical complexity, poor usability, and inaccurate or missing data.” In one heated exchange, Rep. Garamendi asked General Fick to give an update on the ALIS program: 

General Fick: “I have a new material leader working ALIS…he’s got a very very solid plan in place."

Rep. Garamendi: “And if it fails, will he just get another promotion?”

The lack of accountability for defense contractors, including both Lockheed Martin and engine contractor Pratt & Whitney, was also front and center. The GAO report detailed how Pratt & Whitney only delivered six out of 152 engines on time in 2021, many of them with quality issues. A frustrated Garamendi asked: “For the contractors out there, what in the hell are you doing? Why can’t you give us a piece of equipment that actually works?” 

Of course, lawmakers shoulder plenty of blame for the disastrous program. Instead of attempting to address systemic problems, Congress continues to fund the F-35 at levels beyond what the Pentagon has even requested; for instance, in the FY 2020 Defense Appropriations Act, there was $2 billion allocated in earmarks to fund an additional 22 F-35s beyond what the Pentagon itself requested. And, it appears many of them still haven’t learned.

Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), who received a $6,000 campaign contribution in the 2020 cycle from the prime contractor Lockheed Martin, asked General Fick: “If there was one thing this committee could do in this next NDAA to get those FMC (fully mission capable) rates where they need to be, what would that be?” 

Not all members of Congress shared that line of thinking. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) criticized Congress’ full-steam-ahead approach to the program by saying:

“We are incapable of turning off the spigot when something doesn’t work…and we’re asking the American people to pay for F-35s, only 55 percent of which are considered mission capable when the standard is supposed to be 75 percent.” 

Speier also pointed out that perhaps part of the lack of accountability comes from the nature of the contracts doled out. “We created a sustainment contract, much like we did with ALIS, where we’re not in charge and Lockheed Martin has the maintenance contract, so it’s a cash cow for them for the future,” she said.

Despite all of the F-35 program’s design errors — 845 of them according to a recent testing report — the Pentagon is still on track to acquire one-third of the total number of F-35s before the aircraft even finishes operational testing. This will only place a further burden on everyday Americans since problems addressed later on will be even more costly, and likely pose national security risks, since many of the design flaws are related to cyber vulnerabilities.

“The F-35,” Garamendi points out, is a “shared problem. It's a problem of the contractor, Lockheed Martin, and others, it’s a problem of the Department of Defense not paying attention to sustainment, and it is a problem of this committee, and the Senate wanting to buy new bright shiny things and not paying much attention to the sustainment of what was purchased.”


An F-16 and an F-35 model at the background, at the Lockheed Martin exhibition stand in Thessaloniki International Fair, 2018. (Giannis Papanikos/Shutterstock)
Analysis | North America
Kim Jong Un
Top photo credit: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the construction site of the Ragwon County Offshore Farm, North Korea July 13, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS

Kim Jong Un is nuking up and playing hard to get

Asia-Pacific

President Donald Trump’s second term has so far been a series of “shock and awe” campaigns both at home and abroad. But so far has left North Korea untouched even as it arms for the future.

The president dramatically broke with precedent during his first term, holding two summits as well as a brief meeting at the Demilitarized Zone with the North’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. Unfortunately, engagement crashed and burned in Hanoi. The DPRK then pulled back, essentially severing contact with both the U.S. and South Korea.

keep readingShow less
Why new CENTCOM chief Brad Cooper is as wrong as the old one
Top photo credit: U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper speaks to guests at the IISS Manama Dialogue in Manama, Bahrain, November 17, 2023. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Why new CENTCOM chief Brad Cooper is as wrong as the old one

Middle East

If accounts of President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iranian nuclear facilities this past month are to be believed, the president’s initial impulse to stay out of the Israel-Iran conflict failed to survive the prodding of hawkish advisers, chiefly U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Michael Kurilla.

With Kurilla, an Iran hawk and staunch ally of both the Israeli government and erstwhile national security adviser Mike Waltz, set to leave office this summer, advocates of a more restrained foreign policy may understandably feel like they are out of the woods.

keep readingShow less
Putin Trump
Top photo credit: Vladimir Putin (Office of the President of the Russian Federation) and Donald Trump (US Southern Command photo)

How Trump's 50-day deadline threat against Putin will backfire

Europe

In the first six months of his second term, President Donald Trump has demonstrated his love for three things: deals, tariffs, and ultimatums.

He got to combine these passions during his Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday. Only moments after the two leaders announced a new plan to get military aid to Ukraine, Trump issued an ominous 50-day deadline for Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire. “We're going to be doing secondary tariffs if we don't have a deal within 50 days,” Trump told the assembled reporters.

keep readingShow less

LATEST

QIOSK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.