Sustainment Transition Capabilities

FY 2022 NDAA Section 142 requires the Department to transition Sustainment functions from the F-35 Joint Program Office to the Military Departments (MILDEPs) of the Air Force and Navy no later than end of 2027. The Under Secretary of War (USW) Acquisition & Sustainment (A&S) Report to Congress dated 30 January 2023, states that the MILDEPs will achieve Initial Operating Capability (IOC) by end of 2027 to act as the Inventory Control Point (ICP) and reach Full Operating Capability (FOC) by end of 2029. Additionally, for NDAA Section 142 to effectively occur, FY 2024 NDAA Section 1005 mandates that the Department achieve an unmodified audit opinion by the end of 2028. To achieve both statutory requirements and allow the MIPDEPS to assume ICP control by the end of 2027, the Department requires a Logistics Information Technology (LogIT) network that will facilitate necessary data exchange via Department standard Defense Logistics Management Standard (DLMS) transactions and the F-35 prime vendor systems. Once the network is established the Departments’ financial and business systems will have enabled capability for full asset visibility, financial transactions, and Inventory Control Points (ICPs) accountability operations. This investment will deliver that data architecture design, implementation, and capability which will provide the MILDEPs with the necessary asset visibility and controls to assume full ICP responsibilities from the prime vendors. F-35 spares are currently maintained within the current Prime vendor databases. The vendor did not use established standardized Department of War supply and inventory control processes when the F-35 program originated. As a result, this prevents the Department from easily capitalizing the parts and assuming full ICP responsibilities from the prime vendors. The establishment of the data exchange will allow the Department to begin the transition of the spares inventory into the ICPs for lifecycle management. This transition will be accomplished through establishing provisioning and cataloging actions of the F-35 spares, estimated in value around $15 billion. Provisioning and cataloging the spares will convert the spares to National Stock Numbers (NSNs) facilitating their integration into the Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLAs) Warehouse Management System (WMS) for worldwide inventory management and asset visibility.