Joint Strike Fighter: Restructuring Added Resources and Reduced Risk, but Concurrency Is Still a Major Concern.

摘要

The F-35 Lightning II, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), is DoD's most costly and ambitious aircraft acquisition. This procurement seeks to simultaneously develop and field three aircraft variants for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and eight international partners. The JSF is critical to DoD's long-term recapitalization plans as it is intended to replace hundreds of legacy aircraft. Total U.S. investment in the JSF is nearing $400 billion to develop and procure 2,457 aircraft over several decades, and the program will require a long-term, sustained funding commitment. In 2010, DoD began to extensively restructure the program to address relatively poor cost, schedule, and performance outcomes. This testimony draws on GAO's extensive body of work on the JSF, including preliminary results from the current annual review mandated in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010. This testimony discusses the following: (1) program costs, schedule changes, and affordability issues; (2) performance testing results, software, and technical risks; and (3) procurement contract cost performance, concurrency impacts, manufacturing results, and design changes. GAO's work included analyses of a wide range of program documents and interviews with defense and contractor officials. GAO has made prior recommendations to help reduce risk and improve outcomes, which DoD has implemented to varying degrees. GAO's forthcoming report will address these in detail along with potential new recommendations.