The Pentagon suspended all deliveries of the F-35 fighter jet after discovering that an engine component is made of alloys from China.
The Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office was notified on Aug. 19 by the Defense Contract Management Agency that the manufacturer of the F-35’s turbomachine, Honeywell, had used a cobalt and samarium alloy manufactured in China, according to Breaking Defense.
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The turbomachine provides power to start the jet’s engine and is used for ground maintenance. Though deliveries were suspended on Aug. 31 to allow for an investigation into whether the alloy violated the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations Supplement, the government stressed that the alloy does not compromise the capabilities of the jet.
“We have confirmed that the magnet does not transmit information or harm the integrity of the aircraft and there are no performance, quality, safety or security risks associated with this issue and flight operations for the F-35 in-service fleet will continue as normal,” F-35 Joint Program Office spokesman Russell Goemaere told Politico in a statement.
“Defense contractors voluntarily shared information with DCMA and the JPO once the issue was discovered and they have found an alternative source for the alloy that will be used in future turbomachines,” he added.
The investigation underway is seeking to discover the “causal factors” that allowed Chinese materials to be used in the F-35 and to establish a “corrective action,” Goemaere said. If the alloy is found to be in violation of government regulations that promote American-made goods, Lockheed Martin, which builds the overall aircraft, would need a national defense waiver to restart deliveries.
Other Chinese-made magnets on the jet have previously received waivers from the Pentagon, according to Reuters.
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“We are working with our partners and DoD to ensure contractual compliance within the supply chain. The magnet has no visibility or access to any sensitive program information,” spokeswoman Laura Siebert for Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the F-35, said in a statement to Politico. “The F-35 remains safe for flight, and we are working with the DoD to resolve the issue as quickly as possible to resume deliveries.”
The United States has delivered 88 F-35s so far this year, and despite the current hang-up, Lockheed is set to deliver 60 to 65 more this year, according to Breaking Defense.
