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Right to repair: Why the US military can't fix much of its own equipment
Tech & Tactics
Right to repair: Why the US military can’t fix much of its own equipment
Restrictive agreements with defense contractors leave service members unable to fix the expensive ships, fighter jets, and ground vehicles they depend on.
David Roza
Published Apr 3, 2026 11:15 AM EDT
The U.S. military often can’t fix parts of jets, ships, infantry fighting vehicles, and other equipment because they are not allowed to under the contracts the Pentagon signs with manufacturers. Instead, only the manufacturer can fix the equipment, which is a problem in a combat zone or out on a far-flung training exercise.
That means fighter jets worth tens of millions of taxpayer dollars wind up grounded for months on a deployment. The Navy pays millions to fly contractors out to sea and make repairs that sailors aboard those very ships could make themselves. “Right to repair” is the catch-all term for the effort to give service members more authority to fix the equipment they rely on, but a bipartisan effort in Congress to do that fell short last year.
Pay to play?
Technical data is at the heart of “right to repair.” Troops use technical data to diagnose and fix a broken part, or to make a replacement using a 3-D printer, Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine, or similar device. But military equipment manufacturers tend to guard that data, saying it falls under the intellectual property they invested in developing.
Up until the early 1990s, the Pentagon routinely bought complete technical data packages that let troops and military civilians repair equipment or bid the work out to other contractors at competitive prices. ... That began to change during President Bill Clinton’s administration, which encouraged the defense industry to consolidate, shrinking from 51 aerospace and defense prime contractors in the early 1990s to just five today.
{snip}
Right to repair: Why the US military can’t fix much of its own equipment
Restrictive agreements with defense contractors leave service members unable to fix the expensive ships, fighter jets, and ground vehicles they depend on.
David Roza
Published Apr 3, 2026 11:15 AM EDT
The U.S. military often can’t fix parts of jets, ships, infantry fighting vehicles, and other equipment because they are not allowed to under the contracts the Pentagon signs with manufacturers. Instead, only the manufacturer can fix the equipment, which is a problem in a combat zone or out on a far-flung training exercise.
That means fighter jets worth tens of millions of taxpayer dollars wind up grounded for months on a deployment. The Navy pays millions to fly contractors out to sea and make repairs that sailors aboard those very ships could make themselves. “Right to repair” is the catch-all term for the effort to give service members more authority to fix the equipment they rely on, but a bipartisan effort in Congress to do that fell short last year.
Pay to play?
Technical data is at the heart of “right to repair.” Troops use technical data to diagnose and fix a broken part, or to make a replacement using a 3-D printer, Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine, or similar device. But military equipment manufacturers tend to guard that data, saying it falls under the intellectual property they invested in developing.
Up until the early 1990s, the Pentagon routinely bought complete technical data packages that let troops and military civilians repair equipment or bid the work out to other contractors at competitive prices. ... That began to change during President Bill Clinton’s administration, which encouraged the defense industry to consolidate, shrinking from 51 aerospace and defense prime contractors in the early 1990s to just five today.
{snip}
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Seriously, fire all of them. 