The United States and Australia are investigating how components of F-35 fighter jets shipped from Australia to the United States for repair ended up diverted to Hong Kong as they crossed the Pacific, with some of the material still unaccounted for.

The F-35 Joint Program Office at the US Department of Defense said it was “aware of a shipment issue of unserviceable F-35 Lightning II components” and that it was working with US authorities and industry partners “to retrieve these components, investigate the incident, and place safeguards to avoid a future occurrence,” according to the South China Morning Post and Defense News. The case surfaced in a Politico report on September 19, 2026; the shipment included a cockpit canopy, which carries a thin radar-absorbent layer, and the components were carried by a third-party company hired by Lockheed Martin, which manages the programme’s international spare-parts pool. On September 22, 2026, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles confirmed that Canberra is helping with the investigation: “We are examining very much everything that has occurred at the Australian end,” he said, according to ABC News. Marles played down the episode: “my understanding is that there is a sense of comfort, that we’re not talking about sensitive equipment here, or sensitive parts.” The US House Armed Services Committee is aware of the case and has received several briefings on it, committee spokesperson Heather Vaughan told Bloomberg. There is no public evidence that China obtained or inspected the material, and the Department of Defense has not said what exactly went missing. Australia operates 72 F-35s and has no facility able to repair the canopies. Hong Kong’s government said it does not comment on individual cases.