The image shows the US F-35B fighter jet. (Photo taken from twitter.com/theF35JPO)
The U.S. Department of Defense today signed a waiver to allow the use of metal alloys from China in F-35 stealth fighter engines, allowing Lockheed Martin Corp to resume F-35 deliveries.
Reuters reported that the U.S. Department of Defense stopped accepting deliveries of new F-35s in September after previously discovering that the magnets in the F-35 engines were made of an unauthorized alloy made in China.
Lockheed Martin, which makes the F-35, said at the time that the problem “was related to the F-35 turbine magnets manufactured by Honeywell International Inc, which contain cobalt and samarium alloys.”
Pentagon arms acquisition chief William LaPlante today signed a waiver that would allow the alloy, which does not comply with U.S. procurement law, to be used in engine lubrication pumps.
In the statement, Laplante said receiving these F-35s is necessary in the interest of national security. He also said that the decision will be implemented until the delivery of the last F-35 under contract, currently scheduled for October 2023.
Hanway Associates will look for other sources of alloys for future production of lubricated pumps.
Magnets do not transmit messages or damage the aircraft and pose no safety risk.
Alloys from other sources will be used in the future, the Department of Defense Joint Program Office said in a statement.
The F-35 has other magnets originating in China that were exempted by a former US Department of Defense official.
