Senator Cotton urges Pentagon to review supply chain security — Anadolu Agency

In the United States, Senator Tom Cotton urged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to review the security of military cargo transported by commercial carriers and contractors. As Anadolu Agency reports, this followed reports that F-35 components bound from Australia to the United States had been diverted to Hong Kong.

Concerns over F-35 components

In his letter, Cotton noted that Lockheed Martin, which manages the F-35 supply chain, had transported components through a commercial carrier. According to him, reports indicated that Chinese authorities had obtained these parts and had not returned them.

The senator stressed that the US Department of Defense makes extensive use of contractors and commercial carriers to transport equipment, spare parts and other cargo around the world. He noted that the speed and convenience of such transportation must not weaken the United States' military advantages.

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Transportation security measures

Cotton asked the defense department to review five areas of military transportation security. In particular, he proposed assessing requirements for monitoring cargo transfers, the ability to track shipments and routes, as well as procedures for approving and reporting route changes.

Separately, the senator urged a review of the criteria used to determine whether military cargo may pass through foreign jurisdictions and the introduction of safeguards against its transit or diversion to China and other jurisdictions controlled by countries that the United States considers adversaries. In Cotton's view, even unclassified materials may provide foreign governments with information about US weapons systems, logistics and military readiness.