A Missed Email Sent F-35 Stealth Parts Through Hong Kong to China
Two repair parts with stealth coating ended up in Beijing's hands, and have not been returned.
Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition · Trump Weighs Iran Strikes Before Midterms; Hurricane Isaias Forms in the GulfThe warning arrived by email: do not send this shipment through Hong Kong. An employee of UPS, the shipping company, missed it.
The package was already running late out of Australia. Inside were two parts from an Australian F-35 stealth fighter, a warplane built to avoid radar detection: the clear cover over the pilot and the panel that covers the space where weapons are stored. They were being sent to the United States to be examined and either repaired or discarded.
That one missed message turned a routine repair shipment into an international security problem. The parts include radar-absorbing material, a special coating that helps the fighter hide from radar. Having the hardware could potentially help Beijing gain insight into how that stealth design functions.
The original plan was careful. The shipment was supposed to go to San Francisco by way of South Korea and Taiwan. Both South Korea and Taiwan are U.S. defense partners.
But the shipment left Australia late. To speed delivery, it was rerouted through Hong Kong. After a stop in South Korea, the shipment was diverted there.
There, the Chinese government took possession of the two parts. So far, it has not given them back. It is not known why the route was changed or whether it happened by accident.
A spokesperson for Lockheed Martin, the company behind the jet, said the parts were unserviceable and were deemed at low risk for exploitation.
Questions people ask
What does radar-absorbing material do?
It helps an aircraft avoid detection by soaking up radar waves instead of bouncing them back to the receiver. On the F-35, special coatings and structures are combined with the jet's shape to shrink its radar signature. Having a physical sample can help engineers study the composition and construction.
Why was an Australian F-35 part being sent to the United States?
Australia is one of several partner countries that fly the F-35, which is led by the United States. Damaged parts are often sent back to the U.S. to be examined and either repaired or safely discarded. In this case, two parts were headed to the U.S. for that process.
Why is routing through Hong Kong a problem?
Hong Kong is part of China, under Beijing's sovereignty since Britain handed it back in 1997. Mainland authorities can exercise control there. In this case, that is what happened: China took the parts in Hong Kong and has not returned them.