Politico: F-35 parts shipment diverted to Hong Kong; Pentagon says some components still missing

Source: War Post (战情哨所)

A startling report from U.S. media outlet Politico has revealed that a shipment of F-35 fighter jet components, originally dispatched from Australia for repair in the United States, was inexplicably rerouted over the Pacific Ocean this summer and ended up in Hong Kong. The Pentagon has confirmed that some parts remain unaccounted for.

The most sensitive item in the shipment was an F-35 canopy, coated with a transparent radar-absorbing material—a critical component of the aircraft's stealth capability.

Congressional Investigation and Media Frenzy

The incident has triggered an immediate investigation by the U.S. Congress and sparked media speculation that sensitive F-35 technology may have been compromised to China.

However, it is important to clarify that these were defective parts being returned to the U.S. for repair—not new, combat-ready components. The canopy coating degrades over time, and all 1,300 F-35s produced globally require periodic replacement. While Australia has maintenance facilities, it cannot repair the canopy, necessitating shipment back to the U.S. The transport itself was routine maintenance logistics; the problem lies in the routing failure.

No Evidence of Chinese Involvement

To date, there is no publicly available evidence suggesting that Chinese authorities have accessed the shipment. U.S. officials have not concluded whether the rerouting was a logistical error, a system malfunction, or intentional tampering. The Pentagon has stated it is investigating and attempting to recover the missing parts.

Deeper Concern: Supply Chain Mismanagement

The more alarming issue, experts say, is not the alleged "technology theft" but the severe breakdown in the U.S. military's supply chain management.

According to data from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO):

• Over 1 million F-35 spare parts have been reported lost in the past five years.
• The vast majority of these losses have not been fully investigated.
• The F-35 is the world's most expensive weapons program, with U.S. lifetime maintenance costs alone estimated at $1.6 trillion.
• Lockheed Martin controls core supply chain data, and the Department of Defense itself cannot accurately track what has been lost.

Plummeting Readiness Rates

The F-35 fleet's mission capability rate has declined sharply:

| Fiscal Year | Mission Capability Rate | Full Mission Capability Rate | |-------------|------------------------|------------------------------| | 2021 | 67% | 38% | | 2025 | 44% | 25% |

This means that only one in four F-35s is capable of performing all assigned missions.

Root Cause: Outsourcing and Fragmented Oversight

The core issue stems from the U.S. military's cost-cutting strategy of outsourcing logistics—transport, warehousing, and maintenance—to commercial third parties. Lockheed Martin manages the global parts supply chain, while actual transport is handled by commercial carriers. With multiple layers of subcontracting, control and accountability are diluted across numerous contractors.

When no incident occurs, the system functions. But when a failure happens, there is a vacuum of responsibility. A shipment of export-controlled sensitive military equipment was rerouted mid-transit without triggering any warning or interception mechanism—revealing security vulnerabilities far greater than previously understood.

Recent F-35 Crashes

The supply chain issues are compounded by a string of recent crashes:

• March 31, 2025: An F-35A crashed in Nevada; pilot ejected after reporting control anomalies.
• August 1, 2025: An F-35B crashed near a California military base.
• Additional crashes occurred in May 2024, January 2025, July 2025, and March 2026—at least four F-35s lost on U.S. soil in just over two years.

Taken together, the pattern of frequent crashes, lost parts, and declining readiness rates suggests systemic failure rather than isolated incidents.

Hong Kong's Role

Hong Kong, as a major global transshipment hub, handles massive volumes of international cargo daily. Under Hong Kong's regulations, weapons and military items are generally prohibited from transit, and specific military goods require an import/export license. Based on available information, the shipment was an unintended diversion during transit—not a planned import—and there is no precondition for Chinese authorities to have actively intercepted it.