Sensitive-looking stealth components diverted to Hong Kong during U.S.-bound shipment

Filed 1h ago · Via NV · The Buffoon Desk

THIS STORY IS SCORED

The Path of the Goblin King

Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: Fritz Block · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

Bloomberg reported that a cockpit canopy and weapons-bay door from an Australian F-35, both coated in radar-absorbing material, were being shipped by UPS to the U.S. in late May when the shipment was rerouted through South Korea and diverted to Hong Kong. The Chinese government has since taken possession of the parts, and they have not been returned, according to people briefed on the matter.

The Pentagon's F-35 Joint Program Office confirmed a problem with what it called 'unserviceable' components and said it is working with U.S. authorities and industry to retrieve them. Lockheed Martin called the parts unserviceable and low risk, while Australia's defense minister said there was 'a sense of comfort' that nothing sensitive was involved, even as two House committees and the Senate Armed Services Committee look into it.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

Everybody in this story is very relaxed about stealth fighter parts sitting in Hong Kong for months. The Pentagon calls it unserviceable, Lockheed calls it low risk, Australia calls it comfortable, and somehow nobody can say why the box took a scenic route through two other countries before Beijing ended up holding it. When every official involved rushes to tell you not to worry, that's usually the moment to start.

Source: Read the original at NV → Scored: The Path of the Goblin King · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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