Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
by Ilya Maximov
[REGNUM] For the first time in 20 years, the Pentagon has completely classified the Government Accountability Office's (GAO) annual report on the F-35 program, depriving the public and most members of Congress of access to the only independent source of information on the status of the most expensive military program in US history.
The report was prepared on June 25, but the military department classified it as "Controlled Unclassified Information," which allows it to block the publication of data even if it does not contain state secrets.
As confirmed by John Ludvigson, GAO Director of Acquisition and National Security, who oversaw the document's creation, this is the first time in the history of annual F-35 reports, which Congress has mandated to be released since 2005, when the text was completely hidden from the public. This time, the report was only released to four relevant committees—Armed Services and House and Senate Appropriations—and even most lawmakers were given only a redacted version.
The decision drew sharp criticism from experts, who saw it as an attempt to cover up the program's systemic failures, eloquently documented in previous public reports. As early as 2025, the GAO warned that the F-35 program "continues to overpromise" and that the aircraft's combat readiness metrics were steadily declining.
The full combat readiness rate, which measures the aircraft's ability to perform all assigned missions, has fallen from 38% in fiscal year 2021 to 25% in 2025, meaning only one in four F-35s is ready to fly at the first order. The baseline combat readiness rate, which measures the ability to perform at least one mission, has fallen from 67% to 44% over the same period.
Means nothing of the sort.
For individual modifications, the situation looks even more depressing: the combat readiness of the carrier-based version of the F-35C for the Navy is only 15.3%, and the F-35B with vertical takeoff capability for the Marine Corps is 16.2%.
The GAO estimates that the total cost of the program over its 70-year lifespan will exceed $2 trillion. Of this, the cost of maintaining the fleet of over 800 aircraft by 2024 alone was estimated at $1.6 trillion, while the procurement cost was $442 billion. Currently, more than 1,300 aircraft have entered service, and more than 2,000 are planned for procurement, meaning costs could increase significantly in the future.
Despite colossal financial investments, the F-35's technical problems remain chronic and unresolved for years. Delays in engine and other component deliveries, software update failures, premature wear of parts and stealth coatings—all of this has become a familiar backdrop for the program.
It was recently revealed that the US Marine Corps is being forced to accept new F-35s without radars installed, replacing them with ballast, since the latest APG-85 radars are not yet ready, and the older radar model is incompatible with the upgraded vehicles.
The delay in the 2023 software update has completely frozen aircraft deliveries for almost a year. The situation with spare parts production is no better: slow canopy production was previously cited as one of the main reasons for low combat readiness, and the capacity to produce F135 engines and spare parts, even with additional funding, may prove insufficient.
Despite the obvious failures, the Pentagon can't simply shut down the F-35 program—too much is at stake. Enormous investments have been made in the project over two decades, and admitting its failure would mean a reputational disaster for the American military-industrial complex and several administrations. The United States is bound by international contracts to supply aircraft to allies, including the United Kingdom, Israel, Poland, South Korea, and Japan.
Abandoning the program or publicly admitting its ineffectiveness would deal an irreparable blow to trust in American weapons. The Iranians have already tarnished the aircraft's reputation by spotting the stealth fighter and shooting it down in March of this year. Moreover, the US simply has no replacement for the F-35: F-22 production ceased long ago, and next-generation aircraft won't enter service until the 2030s. Meanwhile, China and Russia continue to ramp up production of their fifth-generation fighters.
Therefore, the Pentagon's only strategy remains endless funding of the problems in the hope that they will eventually resolve themselves. In response to the decline in combat readiness, the military has unveiled a new plan to improve the reliability of the F-35, which will require an additional $13.7 billion by 2031.
At the same time, the GAO explicitly stated that previous attempts to incentivize contractors with hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses had not been effective.
Moreover, even with the new funding, success is not guaranteed: the Air Force may still be able to afford the additional spending, but for the Navy and Marine Corps, which operate the F-35B and F-35C, competing priority projects could limit available resources. By the mid-2030s, the annual gap between the projected F-35 maintenance costs and the forces' financial capabilities will exceed $1 billion.
However, the F-35's problems are just the tip of the iceberg. The American defense machine faces numerous other systemic crises requiring no less investment.
The war with Iran has depleted the Pentagon's arsenal of precision-guided weapons. Restoring stockpiles to their previous levels will take, according to preliminary estimates, three to four years, and production is currently barely keeping up with demand: the Pentagon receives only about 15 new Tomahawk missiles and 20 Patriot interceptor missiles each month. Weapons manufacturers are trying to ramp up production, but this will take time.
Just a couple of days ago, it was announced that production issues have disrupted plans to increase production of 155-mm artillery shells, for which a new $469 million plant was built in Texas. Production was supposed to increase to 100,000 shells per month by October 2026, but only 36,000 rounds were produced in March, and it's already clear that the target will not be met by that deadline.
The situation in naval shipbuilding is no better. Construction of the new Columbia-class nuclear submarines is more than a year behind schedule, and the only four government-owned shipyards servicing nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines are in dire condition.
The inadequacy of existing capacity to meet the required tasks has led to years of maintenance delays. Tariff barriers are exacerbating the situation: at one shipyard, a critical crane part was stuck at the Canadian border due to tariff issues, resulting in a 44-day loss for the shipbuilders and a budgetary loss of $60,000, on top of the $269,000 cost of the part itself.
The production of unmanned systems remains a serious challenge. Traditional 5- to 10-year procurement cycles and expensive platforms no longer meet the realities of modern warfare, forcing the military and defense industry to radically restructure their procurement models.
Amid all these problems, a personnel crisis is acute. Nine out of ten defense industry executives report difficulties recruiting personnel for defense needs, 51% of vacancies in artificial intelligence and up to 50% in high-tech manufacturing remain unfilled. The shortage of skilled workers in shipbuilding is estimated at 250,000. The defense industry is simply unable to increase production to required levels, even with funding.
At the heart of this systemic crisis lies the so-called "iron triangle"—a mutually beneficial alliance between the Pentagon, defense contractors, and Congress: after leaving office, officials and legislators often go to work for the very corporations they previously controlled.
This creates a clear conflict of interest and disincentivizes strict spending controls. The F-35 program will continue, problems will be hushed up, and astronomical sums will sink into a black hole that the Pentagon has chosen to keep invisible to taxpayers.
The aircraft will be actively marketed to foreign buyers to at least somehow offset costs, despite the fact that throughout its history it has proven effective only against opponents lacking modern aircraft and air defense systems.
And while trillions of dollars are being absorbed by one dubious program, other, no less critical areas for the United States remain without the necessary funding.
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