World
Chinese authorities refuse to return Australian F-35 stealth fighter jet parts that arrived in Hong Kong
A shipment of Australian F-35 fighter jet parts, including a cockpit canopy and ammunition bay door, left Australia in May en route to the United States for repairs and arrived in Hong Kong for unknown reasons, with Chinese authorities still refusing to return it. Australian and American officials stressed that the components are unusable and that the risk of exposure to critical technologies is considered low. The US Department of Defense is involved in investigating the incident and efforts are being made to retrieve the parts.
· Source: N12. Photo as published in the article
Chinese authorities are still refusing to return to Australia a shipment of F-35 stealth fighter jet parts, including a cockpit canopy and ammunition bay door, which left Australia in May on its way to the United States and arrived in Hong Kong for reasons unknown.
According to reports, the shipment left Australia in May and was supposed to arrive in the United States for repairs, but en route was diverted to Hong Kong. Among the components found in the shipment were the cockpit canopy and ammunition bay door of an Australian F-35A, external aircraft components that use materials related to the aircraft's stealth capability.
Examination of the components themselves could, according to the report, allow Chinese engineers to learn about the materials, the structure of the layers and the way they function against electromagnetic radiation. However, China did not obtain an F-35 aircraft, nor did it get the radar, mission computers, electronic warfare systems or the software of the aircraft.
Australian and American officials stressed that the components are unusable and that the risk of significant exposure to critical technologies is considered low. The US Department of Defense and officials in the F-35 program are involved in investigating the incident, and simultaneously efforts are being made to retrieve the parts.
According to the report, there is still no formal answer to the question of whether this is an unusual logistical error, a shipping company failure or intentional intervention by Chinese intelligence or another intelligence agency.
