Dec 23 (Reuters) – U.S. F-35 fighter jets were available to fly only half the time in 2024 due to maintenance shortcomings by Lockheed Martin, a report from the Defense Department's Office of the Inspector General said. The availability of F-35 aircraft in 2024 was 50%, 17% below the minimum performance requirement, the Pentagon watchdog said. According to the report, the average availability rate of F-35s was 50% because "(the Pentagon) did not always hold Lockheed Martin accountable for poor performance related to F-35 sustainment." "This occurred because the F-35 JPO did not include aircraft readiness performance or other measurable contract requirements and did not enforce material inspection and government property reporting requirements in the AVS contract," the report said. The audit found that the Pentagon paid Lockheed about $1.7 billion without any economic adjustment even though the aircraft were unavailable to fly about half the time and failed to meet minimum military service requirements. Lockheed Martin did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The F-35 is the Pentagon's largest acquisition program, with lifetime costs estimated at more than $2 trillion to purchase, operate and sustain the aircraft. (Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
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