Because of the "Made in China", the Pentagon suspension to receive the F-35 fighter aircraft

According to media reports such as Congress Mountain News, the Ministry of Defense and Lockheed Martin Company confirmed on the 7th that after some engine components of the F-35 fighter were made by Chinese, the Pentagon has suspended the delivery of the fighter jet. Essence

The F-35 manufacturer is Lockheed Martin, and the turbine of the plane is manufactured by Honeywell. A report released by Lockheed Martin on Wednesday stated that in late August, a third-level supplier of a turbine machinery of Honeywell notified them that a magnet in the F-35 turbine was used in cobalt and 钐 from China Made in alloy.

The Lockheed Martin factory in Texas produces F-35 data charts. Picture source: "Defense News" website

As an engine component, turbine is responsible for providing motivation to the engine. Lockheed said that the alloy of the component was magnetized in the United States.

The company emphasized that the magnets on the F-35 that have been delivered will not be replaced by the magnets made of "non-Chinese materials". The Pentagon has determined that these magnets themselves are "safe" and will not involve any sensitive information.

Russell Goemaere, a spokesman for the US Defense Contract Administration, also said: "We have confirmed that magnets will not transmit information or damage the integrity of the aircraft, and there is no performance, quality, or safety risk related to this issue. The flight operation of the F-35 active aircraft group will continue to carry out normally. "

F-35 fighter data map

However, as this "Made in China" may violate the "Regulations on the Federal Federal Procurement" (DFARS), the F-35 Joint Project Office has ordered the National Defense Contract Administration "National Defense Regulations related to special metals."

Lockheed Martin said that "it was sufficient to suspend delivery for sufficient caution" and said that the production of turbine machinery in the future will use another magnetic magnet, which uses materials from the United States.

Under the relevant US media reports, many American netizens expressed difficult to understand this. Some netizens said: "This is just a magnet. Of course, it does not transmit any type of data, because this is not a matter of dry magnet. Could it be that they can really (transmit information)?"

Some netizens said: "Magnets? They stopped everything because of the magnet?! It must be that some non -technical bureaucrats are working."

Reviews

The US "Defense News" stated that the National Defense Contract Administration notified the regulatory violations that may exist in alloy parts on August 19, and officially confirmed the violations on September 2. The investigation is currently underway, "to understand how Chinese materials have been used through related procedures."

Lockheed said it would not be clear how long it would last, and the company was still delivering 148 to 153 fighters in 2022. So far, 88 F-35 has been delivered this year. The fighter that has not been delivered has been temporarily staying at Lockheed.

The company said that the F-35 consists of more than 300,000 parts of more than 1,700 suppliers. In order to achieve possible national security exemptions and allow fighters that allow the use of Chinese alloy materials, the company is providing the F-35 joint project office that may need to need to need Information.

The "Defense News" states that if the US government decides to implement national security exemptions, William Raprant, deputy minister of the Ministry of Defense, who is responsible for the collection and maintenance, must make a written decision, that is, the F-35 uses Chinese materials to meet the national security interests of the United States.

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