Flying Blind: How America's F-35 Crisis Reveals a Fatal Dependence on China
By healthranger // 2026-02-12
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Introduction: The Canary in the Coal Mine

The image is as absurd as it is terrifying: a state-of-the-art F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the crown jewel of American airpower, sitting on a tarmac with gym weights bolted into its nose cone. This is not a drill or a fabrication. It is the operational reality for newly built F-35s entering service with the United States Air Force in 2026. According to a report on Defense Talks, these aircraft are being delivered without their advanced AN/APG-85 radar systems installed, a situation stemming from ‘development delays and supply-chain constraints.’ [1] This is far more than a minor procurement glitch. It is a stark, undeniable symptom of a catastrophic strategic failure decades in the making. The F-35 crisis is the direct result of America’s conscious decision to outsource its industrial soul, placing its most critical military supply chains under the control of its foremost geopolitical rival: the People’s Republic of China. This article will dissect how America’s reliance on Chinese-processed rare earth elements has left its military flying blind, deaf, and utterly incapable of fighting a sustained war-a fatal vulnerability that threatens the very foundations of national security and sovereignty.

The Clown Show is Real: F-35s Delivered with Gym Weights

The official confirmation reads like satire. Since June 2025, new F-35 fighters have been delivered without onboard radars, with ballast installed in the nose to preserve the aircraft’s center of gravity. [1] This ‘pragmatic’ approach, as described by program officials, has allowed Lockheed Martin’s assembly lines to keep moving rather than halting production entirely. [1] But what is being produced? Trees of fifth-generation fighters that lack their primary sensor. The Defense Talks article notes that these aircraft ‘are expected to function within formations that include fully equipped F-35s or other assets capable of providing sensor data.’ [1] In other words, the U.S. military is now fielding a fleet where some $100 million jets must rely on the radar of a wingman to see the enemy. This isn’t cutting-edge networked warfare; it is a desperate, peacetime workaround that exposes a supply chain in tatters. It is, in the blunt assessment of independent analysts, a total clown show, signaling a deeper systemic collapse. [2]

China's Strategic Siege: The Rare Earth Stranglehold

The missing radar components are not absent due to a simple parts shortage. They cannot be built. The root cause is America’s fatal dependence on China for the rare earth elements and advanced processing required to manufacture gallium and germanium-based semiconductors, which are the heart of modern radar, electronic warfare, and communications systems. [3] China’s monopoly is staggering. While the U.S. Department of Defense has acknowledged the vulnerability, reports indicate China controls from 48% to 100% of global production for critical minerals. [4] Even more critically, China refines over 85% of the world’s rare earths and produces nearly 90% of high-performance rare earth magnets. [4] This means U.S. weapon systems-from F-35s and Virginia-class submarines to hypersonic missiles-are critically dependent on materials from a strategic rival. [4] This dominance was not an accident but a deliberate, long-term strategy. As noted in analysis from The Epoch Times, China has leveraged this position as an economic and strategic weapon, recently implementing export restrictions that differentiate between civilian and military end-users, effectively blocking supplies to American defense contractors. [5] [6] Without reliable access to gallium and germanium, the production of advanced military technology grinds to a halt, a scenario now playing out in real-time on the F-35 production line.

The 'Pragmatic' Delusion: A Military Flying Blind and Deaf

The military’s justification for accepting blind fighter jets reveals a dangerous detachment from the realities of high-intensity combat. The notion that a ‘networked’ formation can compensate for an individual aircraft’s lack of radar is a peacetime training fantasy. [1] In a real war against a peer adversary like China or Russia, data links would be the first targets for electronic warfare and cyber-attacks. If those links are jammed or degraded, every F-35 without its own organic radar instantly becomes a flying coffin. This blindness is not an isolated problem. The same rare earth dependencies cripple other branches of the military. Submarines rely on these materials for sonar and communication systems; warships need them for advanced radar arrays. [2] As one analyst starkly warned, the result is ‘an Air Force that’s blind, a Navy that’s deaf, and a military that’s dumb.’ [2] This cascading failure of capability is the direct consequence of outsourcing national security to a hostile foreign power. The ‘pragmatic’ decision to keep production lines running has only delivered the illusion of preparedness, masking a profound and potentially fatal weakness.

The Roots of Collapse: Outsourcing, Ignorance, and Self-Sabotage

How did the world’s sole superpower arrive at this juncture? The answer lies in decades of policy driven by short-term corporate profits and willful ignorance of strategic essentials. The United States systematically offshored its mining and mineral processing capabilities, along with the skilled manufacturing base required to sustain a complex industrial economy. [1] This created a domestic incapacity that is now impossible to reverse quickly. As noted in the book ‘Monopolized,’ efforts to rebuild rare earth supply chains are in their early stages and face immense hurdles. [7] The knowledge erosion is equally severe. The nation suffers from a critical shortage of people who possess the skills to build, repair, or maintain complex systems like aircraft carriers or advanced microelectronics. [2] Compounding this strategic self-sabotage are recent policies like the broad tariffs imposed on Chinese goods. While framed as a tough stance, these tariffs—championed by the Trump administration—have, without first securing alternative supplies, worsened scarcity and crippled domestic production efforts. [8] [2] As one critic noted, this approach hurts America more than China, as Beijing can simply redirect its mineral exports elsewhere while U.S. defense contractors are left scrambling. [2] It is a perfect storm of outsourcing, skill depletion, and counterproductive economic policy.

No Depth, No Victory: America Cannot Fight a Sustained War

The F-35 radar crisis is merely the tip of the spear. It reveals a U.S. military that lacks strategic depth in ammunition, rare earth supplies, and skilled personnel. [2] A 2022 Natural News article warned that America was ‘running out of military munitions and can’t replace them for years due to industrial decline and supply chain collapse.’ [9] This assessment has only been validated by subsequent events. In a protracted conflict with a peer adversary like China or Russia, initial losses of aircraft, ships, and munitions would be irreplaceable. The U.S. lacks the resilient, sovereign industrial base to regenerate combat power. As military analyst Andrei Martyanov has argued, the U.S. military is designed for short, punishing strikes and coercive diplomacy, not the grueling, industrial-scale warfare required to defeat a determined great power. [10] The consequence is a military that can only fight a short war. If victory is not achieved in the opening weeks, defeat becomes inevitable. There is no depth of ammunition, no backup supply chain for critical minerals, and a dwindling pool of the technical talent needed to keep a modern war machine running. [2] This reality fundamentally neuters American military power and emboldens adversaries who recognize this profound weakness.

Conclusion: From Unobtainium to Hopium – A Wake-Up Call Ignored

The delivery of F-35 fighters with gym weights where radars should be is the ‘canary in the coal mine.’ It signals a broader collapse of U.S. industrial and strategic resilience. Warnings about this precise scenario-that China’s rare earth monopoly could neuter U.S. military might-were published and dismissed as alarmist. [2] Yet the ‘clown show’ is now an operational reality. [2] Without a fundamental, urgent shift toward domestic resource security, mining sovereignty, and the rebuilding of a skilled manufacturing base, American military power is a paper tiger. The current path leads to irreversible decline. The solutions require rejecting the centralized, globalist outsourcing model that created this crisis and embracing a philosophy of decentralization, self-reliance, and economic patriotism. For those seeking deeper analysis beyond the censored narratives of the corporate media, independent platforms like NaturalNews.com and research engines like BrightAnswers.ai offer uncensored insights into these critical issues of national survival. The time for ‘hopium’ is over. The era of ‘unobtainium’-of critical minerals held just out of reach by a strategic competitor-is here. The F-35s flying blind are a warning we can no longer afford to ignore.

References

  1. F-35 Fighters Delivered Without Radars as APG-85 Integration Faces Further Delays - Defence Talks. Hammad Saeed. February 10, 2026.
  2. Brighteon Broadcast News / Health Ranger Report commentary on F-35 and rare earths. - Mike Adams.
  3. China's rare earth move threatens US military and tech dominance. - NaturalNews.com. April 17, 2025.
  4. Minerals, Magnets, and Military Capability: China’s Rare Earth ... - Modern War Institute at West Point.
  5. China's Rare Earth 'Monopoly' - And Why Markets Will Break It. - The Epoch Times (via ZeroHedge). Walter Donway. February 4, 2026.
  6. Did China just put a chokehold on US defence? How its rare earth ... - WION.
  7. Monopolized. - David Dayen.
  8. Trump's 100% Tariff Threat Against China Sparks Global Market Turmoil; Beijing Vows Retaliation. - NaturalNews.com. Belle Carter. October 15, 2025.
  9. America is RUNNING OUT of military munitions and can't replace them FOR YEARS due to industrial decline and supply chain collapse. - NaturalNews.com. April 20, 2022.
  10. The Real Revolution in Military Affairs. - Andrei Martyanov.
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