WASHINGTON — Putting one of the nation's top defense contractors on-notice: the Pentagon Inspector General found that contractor Lockheed Martin Corporation provided defective spare parts and an inadequate information technology system for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
The IG estimated that more than $300 million was spent on additional labor costs between 2015 and 2018 as a result of Lockheed Martin's failures, and that the Department of Defense will continue to have to pay $55 million a year if issues are not resolved.
And that's not all.
"Lockheed Martin is receiving incentive fee payments that were earned through the use of D.o.D. labor rather than the contractor's ability to meet its performance metrics," said the D.o.D.'s Assistant Inspector General Theresa Hull.
Members of the House Oversight Committee made their displeasure clear.
"For that much money, we can expect Lockheed to deliver products that work and that keep our service members safe," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-New York). "Anything else is unacceptable."
Added Rep. Steven Lynch (D-Massachusetts): "I don't believe based on the facts here that the American people are being treated fairly."
Lockheed Martin's vice president for the F-35 program said the company is doing its best.
"We have seen marked improvement," said Greg Ulmer. "We understand we have more to go. And you have our resolve to fix this problem."
Ulmer would not commit to a figure to compensate the Defense Department for defective electronic equipment logs saying it wasn’t entirely the company’s fault.
“It’s a complex problem," he said, adding that Lockheed Martin is "committed to meeting with the Defense Contracts Agency... to sit down and reconcile the concerns and adjudicate the cost appropriately."