Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) are introducing a bill Tuesday that would hold defense contractors and the Department of Defense accountable for the myriad failures of the F-35 strike fighter jet — the most expensive weapons program in history and plagued with problems and cost overruns since its inception, Breitbart News has learned exclusively.
“It’s unacceptable to leave the American taxpayer on the hook for a broken system and allow appropriators in Congress to divest funds from service members’ child care to invest in broken F-35s. We must stop rewarding failure and prioritize our military families,” said Gaetz in a statement to Breitbart News.
“For two decades, across multiple administrations and Congresses, Lockheed Martin has failed to deliver on the F-35. Every step in the program’s journey has been late, wildly over budget, and has produced a plane that does not perform as required. It’s time to hold Lockheed Martin publicly accountable for failing the American taxpayer,” said Moulton, a Marine veteran.
The bill would express the sense of the House of Representatives that Lockheed Martin and its subcontractors are in breach of contract with respect to deliverables on the F-35 contract and that the DOD has “failed to adequately hold itself and Lockheed Martin accountable for the numerous failures within the F–35 aircraft program.”
The bill details the sordid history of the F-35 — which was once envisioned to replace the U.S. Air Force F–16s and A–10s, U.S. Navy F/ A–18s, U.S. Marine Corps AV–8B Harriers and F/A– 18s, and U.K. Harrier GR.7s and Sea Harriers.
The bill notes that Air Force officials are already looking for a cheaper alternative to the F-35 to replace the F-16s, including variants of “the very F–16s they sought to replace,” tactical drones, and development of an entirely new flagship aircraft.
The bill also cites the Government Accountability Office’s conclusion on May 30, 2023, that the “Department of Defense’s most expensive weapon system—the F–35 aircraft—is now more than a decade behind schedule and $183 billion over original cost estimates.”
Gaetz during a hearing last month slammed the government giving Lockheed Martin and other defense contractors “full-system performance” contracts, which give those companies the exclusive right to fix their own problems — in essence, rewarding them for failure.
Gaetz slammed House appropriators for reducing funds for service members for childcare and using that money to buy more F-35s as “corrupt.”
“The federal government should not give ‘full-system performance’ contracts to companies responsible for their own failures. Today, I introduced a resolution to hold contractors accountable for breaching their F-35 obligations, while the Department of Defense has failed to enforce accountability,” Gaetz said in his exclusive statement to Breitbart News.
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