Part of the problem with parts tracking lies in the Pentagon’s decision a decade ago to shift course on who owns them, GAO said. Those parts are stored in more than 50 domestic and international facilities run by contractors other than Lockheed and Pratt. All participants in the program worldwide have access to a global pool of spare parts - everything from engines, tires, landing gear and support equipment down to bolts and screws - that the Defense Department owns until a part is installed on a fighter.īut while DoD owns the spare parts that all nations flying F-35s rely upon, Lockheed Martin, which builds and repairs most of the F-35′s air frame, and Pratt & Whitney, which handles the F-35′s engines, manage the global pool. The international F-35 program, which includes the United States and other nations such as the United Kingdom, Norway, Italy, Canada, Israel, Japan and South Korea, has what GAO called a “unique” system for managing its spare parts. The JPO also said that F-35 spare parts are now being tracked through a non-government system, but that it is working with industry to move the data to a government system. “While this is considered much better than the government goal of 5%, we will continue to work with the services and our industry partners to improve spare parts accountability and drive readiness for our warfighters.” “At this time, our error rate is around 1%,” the program office said. The Defense Department office pointed to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement rules that said programs should strive to have their recorded inventories accurate about 95% of the time, and said the F-35 program exceeds that goal.
0 kommentar(er)
