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Snapshot 5:Fri, Sep 25, 2026 2:12:38 PM GMT last edited by Vandita

Pentagon Probes Diversion of F-35 Stealth Parts to Hong Kong

Pentagon Probes Diversion of F-35 Stealth Parts Diverted to China,Hong Report SaysKong

Pentagon Probes Diversion of F-35 Stealth Parts to Hong Kong
Above: A mock-up display of a Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter aircraft with its canopy open at Leos Janacek Airport in Mosnov, Czech Republic, on Sept. 20. Image credit: Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Getty Images

The Spin


Handing adversaries a real stealth canopy is a catastrophic failure that no amount of shrugging can excuse. Defense giants that keep legal entities, employees and supply lines inside a rival state have built an open window into the most sensitive hardware ever fielded. Nobody can even count what's already gone missing, and that alone should end the excuses.

Panic over a mishandled shipment ignores what actually moved: broken, unserviceable hardware with little exploitation value. Export controls were followed, allies and contractors are coordinating, and safeguards are being tightened so this doesn't repeathappen again. Treating a logistics mistake as a stealth breach only distracts from the real work of keeping the program secure.

China's J-35 electromagnetic catapult breakthrough is more than a technological catch-up with the U.S. as it offers improved reliability, faster sortie generation and greater flexibility for future manned and unmanned aircraft. China doesn't need to steal or seize foreign fighter-jet technology; Beijing is well ahead of Washington in advanced aerospace and military technology.


Metaculus Prediction

There's a 50% chance that China will surpass the United States economically, militarily and scientifically by June 2067, according to the Metaculus prediction community.


The Controversies



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© 2026 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 7.4.1

© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.

All rights reserved.

Version 7.4.1