China Has F-35 Parts. Thanks, UPS. 🇨🇳📦🇺🇸

[Maybe we should rename UPS to Oops]
No hacking. No spy movie. Just… a delivery that took a rather unexpected detour.

25 September 2026 | Washington–Hong Kong

The F-35 is one of America’s most closely guarded military technologies.

So naturally, some of its parts apparently ended up in China.

Not on a battlefield.

Not through a Hollywood-style espionage operation.

Through the supply chain.

A UPS shipment carrying an Australian F-35 cockpit canopy and weapons-bay door was being sent to the United States for inspection, repair or disposal.

The shipment stopped in South Korea.

Then it was diverted to Hong Kong.

Chinese authorities later took possession of the components, according to people familiar with the matter. U.S. authorities are now investigating and working to retrieve them.

And suddenly the old geopolitical joke writes itself:

China: “We didn't steal the F-35.”

UPS: “We didn't say you did.”

The Pentagon is investigating.

Congress is asking questions.

Lockheed is checking the logistics.

And somewhere, a UPS tracking screen is probably having a very difficult day.

From “Made in America”
to “Where did the package go?”

Welcome to the geopolitics of the global supply chain.

Source: BRICS News via Bloomberg | Pentagon F-35 Joint Program Office | CBS News | 25 September 2026