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| US Department of Defense Asks Continue Deliveries of F-35 Fighter To Customers |
Washington - The United States Department of Defense (Pentagon) requested that deliveries of F-35 jets to customers continue. This is related to the discovery of F-35 engine components made by Honeywell, where it turns out that there are cobalt and samarium alloy components from China. However, the alloy is magnetized in the United States.
In addition, the F-35 Joint Program Office has also said Wednesday that the section does not transmit information and does not jeopardize the safety or security of the aircraft's flight. The problem is that the presence of these Chinese-sourced materials violates the Supplement to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations, Defense News wrote.
Due to these considerations, F-35 deliveries to customers were temporarily suspended. In a briefing with reporters at the Pentagon on Friday, William LaPlante, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainability, said the investigation into the alloy was moving quickly.
He explained that there are two things about using components from China. “First, the impact on security, if any. And second, the impact on airworthiness or safety, if any,” said LaPlante.
Now, if the investigation confirms that there is no problem, LaPlante explains the possibility the Pentagon could issue a waiver and get the F-35 production line moving again. LaPlante underlined this problem with a rapidly changing supply chain.
This, he said, proves that the defense industry relies on components that sometimes the main defense contractors themselves do not know every detail of their component supply chain.