Incorporated Chinese-Made Parts To Keep The Fighter On Schedule

Chinese parts have been used in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, according to Pentagon documents obtained by the media, and the U.S. government had to waive laws to allow the parts to be incorporated on the airplane.

In the documents reviewed by Reuters, the Pentagon's top arms buyer Frank Kendall allowed Northrop Grumman and Honeywell to use magnets manufactured in China for the plane's radar system, as well as landing gear and other components on the airplane by granting waivers to U.S. import laws. Without those waivers, the companies would have been in violation of federal laws and the program could have faced further delays.

The Government Accountability Office is reportedly looking at three cases. None of the parts were expensive, according to the report. An example is a $2 magnet installed in test, training, and production aircraft that according to the documents would have cost millions of dollars to retrofit with allowed parts and forced lengthy delays in delivering the airplanes. They are included on airplanes currently flying and scheduled for delivery through May of 2014.

The GAO report is due to be released in March. It was reportedly ordered by lawmakers expressing concerns about U.S. firms being excluded from the specialty metals market, as well as the dependency of a U.S. weapons system on parts made by a potential adversary.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.gao.gov