For example, the report says the GAO spoke to military maintenance staff members at three locations who said they were not allowed to look up spare part numbers for the F-35 because the proprietary database was controlled by Lockheed, the prime contractor. “Not having ready access to part numbers hinders the repair of the aircraft because it delays the ordering and receipt of needed parts,” the report said.

I guarantee you that is done to obsufucate the fact that they are grossly overcharging for those parts. I have a friend who worked for one of the big military contractors, and he said things as simple as bolts and screws were inflated 20-30x because the government just pays whatever, no questions asked.

I would put money on the fact that the F-35 program could be maintained for a fraction of that 1.3 trillion, but of course why would they want to do that.

Clearly this means they just need more funding, they should just build extra jets and hire more maintenance crews so they can have a spare jet ready to go at all times when the first one fails!

Now even more money can be ~~grifted~~ profited in exchange for maintenance parts.

Compared with other American weapons, f35 is really quite cheap.