Learning Like Lightning: Lessons From JSF F‐35 Sustainment Activities

• Author: Charles R. Thomas
• Published date: 01 November 2015
• Date: 01 November 2015
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/jcaf.22101

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© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).

DOI 10.1002/jcaf.22101

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Learning Like Lightning: Lessons

From JSF F-35 Sustainment Activities

Charles R. Thomas Jr.

In 2001, United

States Air Force,

Navy, and Marine

Corps launched a

$1 trillion program

to develop the F-35

Lightning II family

of single-seat, single-

engine, multirole

fighter aircraft. This

combat aircraft is

designed to perform

ground attack, aerial

reconnaissance, and

air defense missions.

Its development is funded

principally by the United

States with participation from

the United Kingdom, Italy,

Australia, Canada, Norway,

Denmark, the Netherlands,

Turkey, and other countries.

The U.S. Government

Accountability Office (GAO)

issued a report on the pro-

gram in September 2014. This

report, F-35 Sustainment:

Need for Affordable Strategy,

Greater Attention to Risks, and

Improved Cost Estimates, to the

Committee on Armed Services,

House of Representatives,

provides many details about the

program’s current state, future

plans, and management to date.

The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)

F-35 Sustainment Report high-

lights key management control

system challenges. The pitfalls

noted by the GAO are the same

ones encountered by hundreds

of organizations, large and

small, each year.

This article draws upon

theGAO report to highlight

some critical factors in financial

management today, including

risk management, cost estima-

tion, supply chain management,

and decision making on projects.

This cautionary tale isn’t

intended to bash the hardwork-

ing folks involved with the

program or to nit-

pick the GAO report;

rather, the findings

highlight our chal-

lenges as managers

and provide guidance

on where we should

place our efforts and

planning—these

types of problems

aren’t easily solved.

The F-35 pro-

gram’s goals were

to develop and field

more than 2,400

stealthy strike fighter aircraft

for the Navy, Air Force, and

Marine Corps and potentially

several hundred more aircraft

for U.S. allies. The F-35 is

intended to provide greater

capability and to replace the

U.S. Department of Defense’s

(DOD’s) aging fighter and

attack aircraft. International

participation in the devel-

opment of this system is a

vital part of the acquisition

strategy. As suggested by the

F-35program logo (Exhibit 1)

the aircraft is slated for three

roles (ground attack, aerial

reconnaissance, and air

defense) and three models

The U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps

launched a trillion-dollar program in 2001. This

program has since been restructured several

times. A recent study by the U.S. Government

Accountability Office detailed critical needs for

this program to succeed. This article derives les-

sons learned from the F-35 program. The author

highlights five key financial management lessons

about business cases and projects that are appli-

cable to small organizations and large.

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