Page 1 GAO-25-107870 Tactical Aircraft
The Department of Defense (DOD) spends tens of billions of dollars annually to
operate and maintain its weapon systems, including aircraft. Fixed-wing fighter
and attack planes, referred to as tactical aircraft, are piloted aircraft that provide
air-to-air, air-to-ground, and electronic warfare capabilities. These aircraft are
vital to the success of combat operations and homeland defense.
The military services use operation and maintenance (O&M) funds to support
flying the aircraft, including buying spare parts for and conducting maintenance
on the aircraft (see fig. 1). These funds support the military services in achieving
readiness goals, such as mission capable rate goals for aircraft. Mission capable
rates—the percentage of total time when the aircraft can fly and perform at least
one mission—are used to assess the health and readiness of an aircraft fleet.
House Report 117-397, accompanying a bill for the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, includes a provision for us to review O&M
funding and readiness for fighter aircraft. This report provides information on how
the Air Force and Navy (which includes the Marine Corps) develop their O&M
funding requirements for active-duty tactical aircraft; the amount of O&M funds
used during fiscal years 2018 through 2023; and any association of trends in
O&M funding with mission capable rates. This is a public version of a sensitive
report that GAO is issuing concurrently. GAO omitted information about mission
capable rates that DOD deemed sensitive.
Figure 1: F/A-18 Fighter Aircraft Receiving Maintenance
• The Departments of the Air Force and Navy have detailed processes for
developing their tactical aircraft requests for their O&M funding that involve
various organizations and levels of review.
U.S. Government Accountability Office
Tactical Aircraft: Operation and Maintenance
Spending Varies by System,
and Availability
es Not Meet Service Goals
-25-107870
Report to the Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives
21, 2024
