States Pentagon Failed To Properly Monitor Subcontractor

A formal government review last week states the Pentagon endangered classified military technology by failing to monitor security safeguards at a British subcontractor for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.

A report issued by the Department of Defense Inspector General uncovered flaws in the Pentagons oversight of British contractor BAE Systems' work on the JSF. The Orlando Sentinel reports the gap in oversight took place over at least a two-year period starting in 2004, during which classified technical data and other secure information could have been compromised.

The report states that although Defense Security Service officials were conducting security reviews at BAE Systems facilities, those reviews could have been enhanced by collecting, analyzing, and retaining security audit reports completed by BAE Systems that addressed potential security weaknesses.

Additionally the report stated that the Defense Security Service put in place an unauthorized policy to discard security reports after two years, preventing the Department of Defense from verifying whether weaknesses identified in 2001, 2002, and 2003 had been resolved by the contractor.

Bethesda, MD-based Lockheed Martin Corp. is the prime manufacturer of the F-35, though more than 1,200 foreign and domestic subcontractors, representing 8 foreign countries, participate in developing the fighter aircraft.

Lockheed Martin stated to the Associated Press the Joint Strike Fighter program "has put stringent measures in place with our partner companies and global supply chain to keep program information safe." The company added that it knows of no sensitive information that has been compromised because of the issues raised in the Inspector General report.

The military currently has plans to purchase nearly 2,500 F-35s for use by the Air Force, Navy, and Marines at a cost of nearly $300 billion according to latest Pentagon estimates. This cost is almost 50 percent higher than the target $203 billion set in 2000 by the military for the multi-purpose stealth technology fighter.

FMI: www.dodig.osd.mil, www.jsf.mil