The US wants its F-35 fighter jets
to beat China and other adversaries.
But the F-35 has components…
…made in China
Welcome to China Uncensored. I’m Chris Chappell.
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Speaking of potential hardware failures, the F-35.
It’s one of the US’s most advanced fighter jets.
A lot of money and effort has been put into making the jet and keeping it out of enemy hands.
To do that, the US safeguards its manufacturing process.
This means keeping anything made in China out.
Which is challenging, considering *everything* is made in China.
Even American flags. Weird flex, China, but okay.
Last week, the Pentagon temporarily stopped F-35 deliveries after it was
discovered that an engine part was made in China.
To be more precise, it’s Chinese cobalt and
samarium alloy in the F-35’s turbomachine pumps’ magnet.
To be less precise, it’s Chinese whatchamacallit in the F-35’s doo-hickey.
The turbomachines are part of the Integrated Power Package. That’s the primary component
of the F-35’s power and thermal management system.
According to Lockheed Martin , the developer of the F-35,
the Chinese-made parts were sourced by a 5th-tier provider.
Apparently, the Chinese alloys were used to make magnets. Those were sent to the US to get charged
by a US magnet supplier. That supplier in turn was used by a lube pump supplier, which makes parts
for Honeywell, which supplies turbomachines to Lockheed Martin, which makes the F-35.
It’s supply chain-ception.
The US military also discovered that the component has actually been in the F-35
for a *really* long time. Since 2003.
*Every* single F-35 fighter jet produced contains the Chinese-made component.
You might be thinking, “What’s the big deal?” After all, most of us have had
something from China inside of us at some point in the last couple years.
Well, using *any* Chinese parts in US military hardware
is in violation of US law. Military components aren’t supposed to use
speciality metals or alloys made by certain countries, including China.
According to a Department of Defense official William LaPlante), this case is an example of
“supply chain illumination.” Even the people who make these
components can be in the dark about just how complicated their supply chains are.
For example, one CEO thought he had 300 suppliers, but discovered that he probably had 3,000,
and suppliers can change overnight.
Yeah… it’s probably not great if you don’t know where or who
things are coming from. It’s kind of like
finding a pie on your doorstep. Everyone loves
pie. But if you don’t know exactly how it got there, would you eat it?
So what is the US going to do with every F-35 now that we know all this? Nothing!
Yup. They’re gonna eat that doorstep pie. According to a spokesman for the F-35 Joint
Program Office, “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.”
So it doesn’t anticipate replacing the magnets because that would be too costly
and time-consuming. ​
You know what’s easier than replacing the Chinese magnets? Applying for a national security waiver,
for permission to keep using them. That’s what the Pentagon is doing.
This is outrageous. You shouldn’t do away with something involving national security
just because it’s expensive and time-consuming. Except of course for
the TSA. But that’s because they’re also completely useless.
Fortunately, “[Contractors] have found an alternative source for the
alloy that will be used in future turbomachines.”
Why didn't they get their alloy elsewhere in the first place?
It’s ridiculous that US defense contractors would source anything from China.
Even if information and flight operations aren’t in danger from these alloys,
this is a serious risk for the US military to have *any* Chinese components in their supply chain.
If the Chinese Communist Party cuts off the supply of that component, and there’s no alternative,
it could mean the US can’t make any more F-35s.
This is like breaking up with your girlfriend, but still using her Netflix account.
It shows you’re not as independent as you said you were. Plus, I don’t need her knowing how
many seasons of Great British Bake Off I binged in a single week… hypothetically.
But this isn’t the first time the US discovered Chinese parts in the F-35
and gave it a pass. I’ll tell you more after the break.
Welcome back.
The F-35 fighter jet has Chinese-made parts, which is against US law. The US military is hoping
to get around the problem—by getting a national security waiver so they can keep using the parts.
This has happened before.
Back in 2014, the US government had given waivers for the F-35 to use some Chinese parts.
Including two-dollar magnets.
Anyone else feel more secure knowing the US military spent less on magnets
used in fighter jets than I did on magnets used on
my refrigerator? I know I feel way more secure.
The waiver was justified with the same excuses,
such as how we couldn’t afford the time and effort to replace all the Chinese-made parts.
Don’t you wish you could use the same excuse when you mess up at work?
“Sorry we screwed up your order, sir, but we can’t afford the time and effort to replace
your milkshake with one that doesn’t have pickles in it. Have a nice day.”
Back in 2014, “Chief U.S. arms buyer Frank Kendall allowed two F-35 suppliers,
Northrop Grumman and Honeywell International,
to use Chinese magnets for the new warplane’s radar system, landing gears and other hardware.”
Yes, Honeywell, which is also connected to the latest F-35 oopsie.
Honeywell has been caught using Chinese components even before 2014.
And it applied for a waiver each time.
“The Pentagon [had] already on two separate occasions waived laws for
Honeywell over Chinese-built components in U.S. weapon systems built in 2012 and 2013.”
So those aren’t really laws and regulations so much as they are suggestions. “Please don’t use
Chinese-made parts, otherwise, we’ll do nothing, except ask you to sign some extra paperwork.”
Honeywell has also gotten in trouble for sending technical drawings to China.
Last year, Honeywell was fined millions of dollars after exporting sensitive information on the F-22,
F-35, and more to China and other countries between 2011 and 2018.
A *lot* more.
This includes engineering prints showing “layouts, dimensions
and geometries for manufacturing castings and finished parts
for military aircraft and engines, as well as other hardware and weaponry.”
It was a goldmine for China.
Or shall I say… a honey-well.
The US government said that at least some of these exports to China harmed national security.
They weren’t as worried about the drawings sent to Canada and Taiwan.
Honeywell defended themselves by saying that the technology in question is already commercially
available. And that “no detailed manufacturing or engineering expertise was shared.”
Honeywell also claimed that these designs were shared “inadvertently.”
As part of the settlement, “The State Department said it would not debar
Honeywell because it voluntarily disclosed its alleged violations.”
So the US military is happy to work with a company that harmed national
security because they admitted they did it? That’d be like saying,
“Yeah, my barber is a serial killer.
But I keep going because he was totally upfront with me. Sang a whole song about it!”
So Honeywell only got a $13 million slap on the wrist.
And the US military suppliers continue to get components
from Honeywell—even though they’ve been caught using Chinese components *multiple* times.
This should highlight the dangers of allowing US defense contractors
to work with Chinese companies.
Plus the fact that military contractors have also been duped into using counterfeit Chinese parts.
In 2012, “A year-long investigation conducted by the Senate Armed Services Committee
found more than one million suspected counterfeit parts made their way into the
Department of Defense’s supply chain and were bound for use by ‘critical’ military systems.”
This includes weapons systems, military aircraft and missile defense systems.
At this point it might actually be safer to build our F-35s using fridge magnets.
This is dangerous because “The failure of a single electronic part can leave a soldier,
sailor, airman, or Marine vulnerable at the worst possible time.”
So even if Honeywell and other suppliers use Chinese components that don’t send data to China,
they can still harm US national security. If any military wants to keep itself in the best
possible shape, then they should keep their supply chains completely clean from China.
Otherwise, they’ll end up in a very sticky situation.
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I’m Chris Chappell. Thanks for watching China Uncensored.