The Pentagon and State Department have begun briefing key congressional national security committees about a shipment of an F‑35 canopy that was diverted to Hong Kong while en route from Australia to the United States in June 2026.
The canopy, a thin acrylic bubble coated with radar‑absorbing material, is critical to the aircraft's stealth capability and requires regular replacement as the fleet grows to more than 1,300 jets.
Lockheed Martin, which runs the program's global supply chain, said it could not disclose shipment specifics but reaffirmed its adherence to U.S. regulations.
A 2023 GAO report had already flagged that over 1 million F‑35 spare parts, worth more than $85 million, had been lost or unreported, exposing gaps in the program's tracking.
The investigation will aim to recover the diverted canopy, assess how the reroute occurred, and implement safeguards to prevent a repeat, with a congressional hearing scheduled for July 2026.
At the airbase in Australia where the shipment was last seen, a maintenance crew recalls the missing part as a key piece for daily inspections, underscoring the real‑world impact of the security breach.