Washington, Sept. 24 (SANA) The Pentagon is investigating how components from an F-35 stealth fighter ended up in Hong Kong after a shipment from Australia to the United States was unexpectedly diverted, U.S. officials said.
The F-35 Joint Program Office said it and the U.S. Department of War were aware of a “shipping issue” involving aircraft components and were working to recover the parts.
“We are actively working with U.S. authorities and industry partners to recover these components, investigate the incident, and implement safeguards to prevent this from happening in the future,” the office said in a statement cited by the Associated Press on Thursday.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles confirmed that F-35 components had reached Hong Kong but said the parts were not sensitive equipment.
Shipment diverted en route to U.S.
Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that the components included a cockpit canopy and a weapons-bay door and had been shipped from Australia to the United States several months ago for repair or disposal.
The shipment was unexpectedly diverted to Hong Kong, though it remains unclear how the diversion occurred, according to the report.
The F-35 program operates a global pool of spare parts owned by the United States and available to participating countries, including Britain, Australia, Denmark, Norway and Poland.
The F-35 is a fifth-generation stealth fighter designed with radar-evading technology and advanced intelligence-gathering and sensor-fusion capabilities.
R.D/ABD
