On September 3, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report titled “F-35 Joint Strike Fighter: Actions Needed to Address Late Deliveries and Improve Future Development”. This is just one of numerous studies this watchdog organization released in the last ten years or so, revealing the sheer scope of the JSF (Joint Strike Fighter) program’s mismanagement, delays and cost overruns. GAO found that, after years of troubles in the hardware and software modernization efforts for the F-35 (officially designated as the Block 4 upgrade), the Pentagon is now forced to establish “a new major subprogram to help meet cost, schedule, and performance goals”.

The report found that Block 4 costs well over $6 billion more than initially projected and that its completion and implementation are at least five years behind schedule. The subprogram aims to “reduce the scope of Block 4 to deliver capabilities to the warfighter at a more predictable pace than in the past”. In other words, Block 4 will be scaled down in scope, meaning that the F-35 will be less capable than initially planned. Worse yet, after wasting well over half a decade on upgrades that won’t be ready before early to mid-2030s, the US military will now get a platform that’s worse than previously anticipated. This demonstrates the growing ineffectiveness of the American Military Industrial Complex (MIC).

GAO also found that both Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney (designer and manufacturer of the F-35 and its F135 engine, respectively) continued delivering aircraft and engines late. For instance, in 2024, LM delivered 110 aircraft, all of which were late by........

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