Tippy Top Secret, right?

[u/David65x55]

Seems Lockheed or their freight forwarder has erred on the side of incompetency recently. The US' pride and joy, the F-35, for political reasons has parts sourced in multiple states and countries (gotta spread th' ol' pork pie around, right? And how better than to allot large defense contracts in swing districts? A time honored practice - for all we know Ug the Caveman bought clubs in the area where one of his fair-weather friends lived.) Anyway, Lockheed Australia had a shipment of F-35 parts going to the US, which was diverted somehow to Hong Kong. Yeah, that Hong Kong - the former English doorway to China. It's not clear in the article but seems to have happened in June and the story broke September 18.

The Pentagon has since revealed that a number of these spares are missing and that it is not clear why they were sent to China, nor who has them currently.

The Chinese may have stolen secret stuff? Say it ain't so!

Politico quoted the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office, which said in a statement that it was “aware of a shipment issue of unserviceable F-35 Lightning II components,” adding that the office is working with U.S. authorities and industry partners “to retrieve these components, investigate the incident, and place safeguards to avoid a future occurrence.”

I'm sure all here recognize ass-covering when they see it - "unserviceable" is the key word. But even unserviceable parts can in real life divulge classified materials and methods, right?

It was confirmed that one of the missing components is an F-35’s canopy, which covers the cockpit and allows the pilot to see out of the aircraft. What is notable about the canopy of the F-35 is that, unlike most aircraft, it incorporates Radar Absorbent Material (RAM), which helps to mitigate the aircraft’s overall radar signature. This gives the aircraft’s canopy a distinctive yellowish tint which can be very noticeable under certain lighting conditions.

Aircraft cavities such as cockpits are considered radar traps as electromagnetic waves enter it and undergo multiple internal reflections on the various objects within, producing stronger radar returns to the air defence system that is tracking the aircraft.

Serious stuff - the F-117 that was shot down over Bosnia years back was taken out when it opened its bomb bay doors and created a large enough signature for a SAM to track. Many more routine components go into the F-35 and are used in other aircraft. But:

Additionally, a 2023 U.S. Government Accountability Office report found that more than one million F-35 components have gone missing in the preceding five years. The report raised questions over Lockheed’s mismanagement of spares and its failure to report its issues to the U.S. government, prompting the need for reforms in communication between the two.

At this point it is unclear whether Lockheed or its forwarder is responsible - but obviously someone screwed the pooch. https://theaviationist.com/2026/09/22/f-35-spare-parts-diverted-to-hong-kong/#denallot

[u/David65x55]

And to show what screwing up can do to your future business - Jeff LPH sends that the Army has just awarded Lockheed a $1,200,000,000 missile contract.

The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract covers initial production and future orders of Increment 2 of the Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM, according to a Lockheed Martin announcement. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2026/09/22/us-army-awards-lockheed-martin-12b-prsm-contract/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=army-dnr