Department of Defense Corrosion Program

Abstract

Public Law 107-314 in sections 2228 and 131 of title 10 United States Code (USC) established the Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight within the Office of the Secretary of Defense. And section 2228 directed the SecDef to establish a coordinated research and development program for corrosion prevention technologies. The Congressional intent is clear, correct the design and acquisition mechanisms that facilitate poor corrosion prevention decisions that translate to unnecessary system lifecycle cost increases and reduction to readiness. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Congressional Budget Office and the DoD IG have conducted multiple weapon systems sustainment and availability audits and continue to find corrosion is a significant impact on availability. GAO’s Aviation Sustainment Quick Look reports consistently show that 33% of the audited aviation systems report corrosion as a factor in reduced Operational Availability rates. F-35 acquisition decisions and resulting corrosion maintenance issues serves as a current example of the continued flawed approach to weapon system corrosion prevention. Corrosion continues to be a major factor in Materiel Availability of weapon systems as well. Material Availability corrosion impact examples include: -F-22 Reliability and Maintainability Maturation Program total funding requirement increased 100% ($664 million to $1.3 billion) to correct unplanned corrosion issues (GAO-12-447, GAO-14-425) -The Department of the Navy is deferring shipyard corrosion repairs, allocating a 6%+ cost growth factor for future corrosion repair work. (GAO-22-105032) These examples illustrate the continued flawed sustainment engineering approach to corrosion prevention during the operational and sustainment phase of fielded weapon systems. In addition, the Maintenance Availability Data Warehouse (MADW), maintained on ADVANA, continues to show a $20 billion corrosion maintenance cost trend. The DoD RDT&E corrosion program, as defined in 10 USC 2228, is the proactive mechanism to change the department’s status quo reactive approach for improving weapon system reliability and maintainability (RAM). The strategic goal of the DoD Corrosion Program is to demonstrate the ability to improve weapon system readiness through the implementation of targeted and effective material and nonmaterial solutions that reduce the corrosion impacts on RAM and affordability of DoD weapon systems and infrastructure. Historically, the program’s projects have shown an opportunity to achieve a 17:1 return-on-investment. This PE supports the implementation of section 2228, title 10 USC and the FY 2022 National Defense Strategy’s priorities by maturing technologies that deliver high warfighting value for developing and fielded weapons systems; and Protect and Sustain the Force by driving efficiencies and cost reductions to project and sustain forces globally. The FY 2025 allocated budget to the DoD Corrosion Program represents a 0.013% investment to mitigate a $20 billion annual cost impact.

Document Details

• Document Type: R2 Budgetary Justification
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2025
• Source ID: 0604016D8Z_4_0400_PB_2025
• Change Summary Explanation: The FY 2024 to FY 2025 decrease represents a programmatic realignment to meet departmental leadership priorities and supports higher priority National Defense Strategies.
• Service Agency Name: Office of the Secretary Of Defense

Entities

Organizations

• Office of the Secretary of Defense

Tags

Readers

• Defense Financial Management and Audit.
• Life Cycle Cost Analysis
• Materials Science and Engineering.