(Photo by Allison Bailey/JNA Press via Nexpher Images/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)
Congress is working to get to the bottom of reports that top secret F-35 fighter jet technology was mistakenly diverted to Hong Kong over the summer.
According to Politico, “A shipment of F-35 parts bound for the United States for repairs was rerouted as it transited the Pacific Ocean from Australia, according to three people familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. The Pentagon confirmed the disappearance of some components.”
The parts included one of the jet’s acrylic canopies that covers the cockpit “and contains stealth technology that only the U.S. and its allies have access to,” the report said.
An intermediary was transporting the parts “on behalf of F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin,” the report said. It wasn’t immediately clear why the intermediary “rerouted” the parts or who has control of the shipment now.
If they ended up in China’s hands, the F-35 parts could give China “access to key components of the highly classified weapon system,” the report said, adding, “[a]n adversary could study the parts and potentially reverse-engineer the prized technology if it had one of the canopies.”
Sources told Politico that State Department and Pentagon officials first briefed staff on the matter in June, and more briefings are expected.
In a statement, the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office told Politico it was “aware of a shipment issue of unserviceable F-35 Lightning II components” and that it was working “to retrieve these components, investigate the incident, and place safeguards to avoid a future occurrence.”
Lockheed said in a statement, “Our teams handle every shipment with the utmost diligence and safeguards to ensure the integrity of the F-35 program and the security of our allied partners.”
The report added, “A Government Accountability Office report from 2023 found that more than 1 million F-35 spare parts have gone missing in the past five years. The watchdog agency concluded the department hasn’t been able to review spare part losses worth tens of millions of dollars because Lockheed controls the information.”
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