The US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee has launched an investigation into an incident related to the diversion of secret components for F-35 fighters from Australia to Hong Kong, Bloomberg reports.
According to available information, a shipment of F-35 parts was on its way from Australia to the United States for repairs. However, for unknown reasons, the cargo was diverted and ended up in Hong Kong.
The incident has raised serious concerns in Congress due to the risk of secret military technologies being reverse engineered.
"The Committee is aware of this matter and has received several reports on the subject. It continues to investigate the incident and exercise oversight," said Heather Vaughn, a spokeswoman for the U.S. House Armed Services Committee.
The Pentagon's F-35 Joint Program Office confirmed the incident but declined to specify which components were affected.
"We are aware of an issue involving a shipment of unusable F-35 components and are actively working with U.S. authorities and industry partners to recover the parts, investigate the incident, and take steps to prevent similar incidents in the future," the office said in a statement.
Lockheed Martin, which manages the program's entire supply chain and uses commercial carriers for transportation, said it "cannot discuss the status of specific shipments or delivery procedures for security reasons." The company assured that it "treats each shipment with extreme care".