Bloomberg: China obtained F-35 parts due to UPS error — Anadolu Agency
China obtained components of an F-35 fighter jet after a UPS shipment intended for San Francisco was rerouted through Hong Kong. Anadolu Agency reports, citing Bloomberg.
According to Bloomberg, the shipment included an F-35 cockpit canopy and weapons-bay door coated with radar-absorbing material. These components were subject to U.S. arms export rules that prohibited their transportation through certain countries.
Warning was not taken into account
According to a Bloomberg source, freight forwarder DSV, which worked for F-35 developer Lockheed Martin, sent UPS a warning not to route the shipment through Hong Kong. However, a UPS employee did not notice the email. The source suggested that DSV's message may have arrived through a different IT system than the one used by the UPS agent.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Initially, the shipment was to arrive in San Francisco from Australia via South Korea and Taiwan. However, after the departure from Australia was delayed, the route was changed to save time, and the shipment passed through Hong Kong.
State Department investigation
At the end of May, the components were being returned to the United States for possible repair or disposal. According to Bloomberg, on September 29, Pentagon representatives held an hour-long briefing for staff members of the U.S. House of Representatives committees on Foreign Affairs and Armed Services.
Erica Plath, deputy assistant U.S. secretary of defense for logistics, told participants that her team was working on safeguards. A U.S. State Department export control representative said that the department was investigating the incident. Senator Mark Warner requested a briefing, Tom Cotton called for a review of the supply chain, and Kevin Cramer asked whether China had planned to intercept the shipment.
