Deliveries of fifth-generation aircraft like the F-35 Lightning II can start up again, according to the Pentagon.
On October 8, 2022, William LaPlante, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, signed a waiver authorising the Department of Defense to receive Lot 13 and Lot 14 F-35 aircraft.
Due to the turbomachinery of the Lockheed Martin aircraft, made by Honeywell, containing a non-compliant alloy of cobalt and samarium produced in China, deliveries of the aircraft were halted on September 7, 2022.
An investigation was started because it was possible that using materials made in China would violate the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS).
The waiver stated that accepting the aircraft was important for preserving national security. “This finding pertains to a total of 126 F-35 aircraft under the Lot 12-14 production contract that are waiting to be delivered or will be delivered.”
The waiver is valid until the last aircraft due to be delivered under the contract is accepted, which is presently scheduled for October 31, 2023.
The cobalt-samarium magnets were previously claimed to neither transfer information or compromise the aircraft’s structural integrity by the F-35 Joint Production Office (JPO).
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