Gaetz Raises Alarm Over Lockheed Martin’s Control of F-35 Fighter Jet Program

As of February 2023, only 29 percent of the United States’ F-35 jets were considered ‘fully mission capable.’

A U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II takes part in an aerial display during the Singapore Airshow 2022 at Changi Exhibition Centre in Singapore on Feb. 15, 2022. Suhaimi Abdullah/AP Photo

Questions regarding who controls the U.S. Air Force’s F-35 fighter jet program arose in recent House Armed Services Committee budget hearings.

The F-35 Lightning II aircraft program is described by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) as the Department of Defense’s “most ambitious and costly weapon system and its most advanced fighter aircraft.”