US Sees $13.7 Billion Bill to Boost F-35 Readiness, GAO Says (2)

The Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps need to spend an additional $13.7 billion through 2031 to boost declining readiness rates of the F-35 jet, the world’s biggest weapons program, the Pentagon told congressional auditors.

The Pentagon program office’s new funding request “seeks to address challenges including a lack of spare parts and heavy reliance on contractors,” such as Lockheed Martin Corp., the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Thursday. More than half of the $13.7 billion is for spare parts necessary to increase the rates at which the aircraft are deemed capable of completing missions.

The ...