US Department of Defense: F-35, China?Oh it's all right

Due to the use of Chinese-produced parts, the US Department of Defense recently announced the suspension of the F-35 fighter of Lockheed Martin. However, the officials of the Pentagon responsible for the project stated that all F-35 fighters delivered so far have used the part, but this does not constitute the risk of Guoan, and it will seek exemption and restore supply.

William Laplante, deputy minister of the United States Defense, who is responsible for procurement and maintenance, said at the media briefing on Friday (9th) that the relevant survey is underway, and he hopes that the problem can be resolved as soon as possible.

"(Investigators) They are considering two things: one is the impact on (national) security, if so; the other is the effect on aviation or (fighter) safety, if so." Rapland Special told reporters, "Now, so far, there seems to be no one of them."

Raprant said that if the investigation found that there was no above two problems, he might issue a national security exemption and "let the production line re -operate", "So I hope this problem can be solved soon."

The Capitol Mountain News said that once an exemption is issued, it means that the Pentagon will not replace the problematic components on the aircraft that has been delivered, and it will allow continuing to continue delivering an assembly aircraft that has been used.

Screenshot of Congress Mountain News

According to previous reports, the Pentagonal Defense Contract Management Department reported that the alloy used in the magnets of the F-35 fighter purchased by the US Department of Defense was produced in China and violated the regulations on the procurement of US laws and Pentagon. Stopped the delivery of the F-35. However, the Pentagon F-35 Joint Project Office and the arms supplier Loma insisted that this alloy produced in China is magnetized in the United States, does not allow any other country to obtain sensitive information, and said that there is no security problem.

According to Bloomberg, the F-35 Joint Project Office acknowledged on the 9th that all of the more than 825 F-35 fighters that have been delivered so far, all of which include Chinese-made components. Loma previously revealed that the F-35 fighter turbine engine comes from Honeywell International Corporation in the United States. It provides a fifth-level supplier of a large subcontractor in cooperation with Honeywell.

However, Russell Goemare, a spokesman for F-35 Joint Project Office, said that the component has no technical defects and does not constitute a security risk for F-35's software code. The office will seek national security exemption. Gome also said that the question lies in the security of the supply chain, that is, why Honeywell has not found this banned alloy.

Raprant blamed this negligence on the changing national defense industry supply chain. He pointed out at the briefing that even the main weapon companies are not always familiar with all the details of their supply chain.

He said: "I have seen enough cases found in the supply chain, and I will not be surprised by anything. The company will say that they know their supply chain, just like the company will say that they have never been hacked by hacking The same. This is an endless battle. "

Laprant said that understanding the supply chain of its weapons will be a continuous problem for the Pentagon, but there have been some tools that use artificial intelligence and open source code to explore the supply chain.

According to reports, before the Pentagon announced the suspension of delivery, Loma has delivered 88 of 148 F-35 fighters this year. The company has previously stated that it has found alternative alloys produced in the United States for future fighters.

Source: Observer.com

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