Indo-Pacific — 2026-06-13

GAO Finds Only One in Four F-35s Fully Mission Capable as Pentagon Seeks 13.7 Billion Dollar Boost

BLUFTwelve years of unimplemented GAO recommendations and contractor incentive manipulation make the $13.7 billion Reset a fresh investment in a program structure that reliably defeats its own reforms.

A GAO report released June 11 found the F-35 full mission capable rate fell to 25 percent in fiscal 2025 from 38 percent in fiscal 2021, while the mission capable rate dropped from 67 to 44 percent over the same period 12. The Joint Program Office's June 2025 Global Support Solution Reset requires $13.7 billion above previous plans through fiscal 2031 to reach 80 percent mission capable by 2030; JPO officials told GAO that readiness will likely worsen before it improves 23. GAO found risks to the Reset in industry capacity constraints and a projected annual affordability gap exceeding $1 billion in the mid-2030s 13. GAO also found that JPO adjusted Lockheed Martin's recorded FMC rate upward in 19 of 39 performance periods from 2020 through 2023 to qualify the contractor for incentive payments as readiness declined; the current contract has no FMC incentives 2.

Analysis
The diagnostic failure is JPO's upward adjustment of Lockheed's recorded FMC rate in nearly half of reviewed performance periods while readiness declined, a pattern that deployed contractor incentive eligibility to paper over a deteriorating program. The GAO-documented $13.7 billion GSS Reset carries compounding structural risks: Navy and Marine competing priorities cap the funding pool, and the industrial base cannot produce enough of 48 critical parts regardless of appropriations. With only 14 of 46 GAO recommendations implemented over twelve years, the institutional pattern argues against confidence the Reset breaks the remediation cycle. TR-3 delivery pace may partially offset the trajectory if readiness recovers faster than JPO now projects.

4 sources

F-35 Sustainment: Actions Needed to Ensure Updated Strategy Improves Persistent Readiness Challenges - U.S. Government Accountability Office
Only 1 in 4 F-35s is fully mission capable, GAO finds - Defense News
As F-35 readiness lags, Pentagon seeks $13.7 billion boost: GAO - Breaking Defense
US Sees $13.7 Billion Bill to Boost F-35 Readiness, GAO Says - Bloomberg