Pentagon 'actively working' to retrieve F-35 fighter jet parts diverted to Hong Kong and seized by Chinese government
A canopy and a weapons-bay door. Radar-absorbing coat. China has the crate.
Summary
- The New York Post reports the Pentagon is trying to recover unserviceable F-35 Lightning II components seized by the Chinese government in May after a U.S.-bound shipment was diverted to Hong Kong.
- The F-35 Joint Program Office and the Department of War said they are working with U.S. authorities and industry partners to retrieve the parts, investigate, and add safeguards.
- Bloomberg, cited by the Post, said the missing pieces include a cockpit canopy and a weapons-bay door, both coated with radar-absorbing material, from an Australian F-35 being sent to the United States via UPS for inspection and possible repair or disposal.
- The aircraft carrying the Lockheed Martin parts stopped in South Korea, then routed to Hong Kong, where Chinese authorities took possession. The Post says it is unclear whether the diversion was a mistake or intentional.
Commentary
A mill dad still clocks a shift on a cold factory floor and knows a stealth coat is supposed to mean a U.S. hangar, not a Hong Kong crate. He did not pay the levy so a canopy could teach Beijing how the skin drinks radar.
May seizure. One canopy. One weapons-bay door. South Korea, then the wrong tarmac. The vinyl chair in that depot still holds the honest household that already bought the jet.
Look every working father who still locks a porch after a night shift in the eye and answer this: if a radar-absorbing door already sits in Chinese hands, who still owns the next UPS tag a partner jet tries to send home?
Comments
Canopy. Weapons-bay door. Hong Kong seizure. Keep those stamps.
I stood a gate so a stealth coat still meant our hangar. A diverted crate is not a weather report.
JPO: retrieve and safeguard. Bloomberg: radar-absorbing pair. Print both.
Allied desks still treat a partner F-35 skin as a treaty item, not a mis-sort.
Australia origin. South Korea stop. Lockheed parts. File the three.
I still smell diesel at 2 a.m. I want the next Hong Kong crate empty of a load.
A stealth door in CCP hands is not a vibe. It is a warning the street already paid.
A radar coat next to a May seizure is a second border around every honest hangar.
NY Post printed canopy, weapons-bay door, and Hong Kong. Argue those nouns.
Hold the retrieval. Lock the route. A diverted stealth crate is not a souvenir.
