F-35C fighter jet: Race is on to reach sunken US plane... before China

[Looper]

A race against time is under way for the US Navy to reach one of its downed fighter jets - before the Chinese get there first.

The $100m (£74m) F-35C plane came down in the South China Sea after what the Navy describes as a "mishap" during take-off from the USS Carl Vinson.

The jet is the Navy's newest, and crammed with classified equipment. As it is in international waters, it is technically fair game.

Whoever gets there first, wins.

The prize? All the secrets behind this very expensive, leading-edge fighting force.

Seven sailors were injured when the jet came down on Monday after it struck Vinson's deck during a military exercise.

It is now lying on the ocean bed, but what happens next is a mystery. The Navy will not confirm either where it came down or how long it will take to retrieve it.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea and has increasingly taken steps to assert that claim in recent years, refusing to recognise a 2016 international tribunal ruling saying it had no legal basis.
US and Philippine Marines train in S China SeasImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,
US and Philippine Marines train in the South China Seas

On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian denied Beijing was after the stricken F-35C. "We have no interest in their aircraft," he said at a briefing.

Still, US national security experts say Chinese military would be "very keen" to get to the jet. A US salvage vessel looks to be at least 10 days away from the crash site.

That's too late, says defence consultant Abi Austen, because the black box battery will die before then, making it harder to locate the aircraft.

"It's vitally important the US gets this back," she says. "The F-35 is basically like a flying computer. It's designed to link up other assets - what the Air Force calls 'linking sensors to shooters'."

What might happen next in the South China Sea?

China doesn't have that technology so getting their hands on it would give them a huge leap forward, she says.

"If they can get into the 35's networking capabilities, it effectively undermines the whole carrier philosophy."

Asked if there were echoes of the Cold War here, she says: "It's all about who's the biggest dog in the park! This is basically The Hunt For Red October meets The Abyss - it's a brilliant three-act play."
Presentational grey line
What's so special about the F-35C?
The US Navy variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35CImage source, Getty Images

a network-enabled mission system that allows real-time sharing of information it collects while in flight

US Navy's first "low observable" carrier-based aircraft which enables it to operate undetected in enemy airspace

larger wings and more robust landing gear make it suitable for "catapult launches" from carriers at sea

has the most powerful fighter engine in the world and it can hit speeds of up to 1,200 mph, or Mach 1.6

can carry up to two missiles on its wings and four inside

Presentational grey line

Ms Austen, a former adviser to the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and former senior Nato and EU diplomat, said she believes any attempt by China to try to claim salvage rights was them "stress testing" the US.

It comes at a vulnerable and dangerous time following what some perceived as a disorganised and disastrous Afghanistan pull-out, she believes.

There is no doubt China wants this plane, although cyber espionage may mean they already have some knowledge of its interior, layout and workings, says Bryce Barros, a China affairs analyst and security fellow at the Truman Project.

"I think they would want to see actual parts of the plane, to better understand how it is laid out and find its vulnerabilities."

The US Navy acknowledged in a statement that a recovery operation was under way following the "mishap" aboard USS Carl Vinson.

So how would the retrieval actually work?

A team from the US Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving would attach bags to the jet's fuselage which will then be slowly inflated to raise the wreckage.

This operation will be more difficult if the airframe is not largely in one piece.

The aircraft was likely to have been armed with at least a couple of missiles carried either on its wings or in the internal weapons bay which could also complicate recovery.
Map of area

There is precedent for these winner-takes-all military cat and mouse games.

In 1974, at the height of the Cold War, the CIA secretly pulled a Russian submarine from the sea floor off the coast of Hawaii using a giant mechanical claw

Two years earlier, the Chinese military secretly salvaged the UK submarine HMS Poseidon which sank off China's east coast.

And it is widely believed that China got its hands on the wreckage of a secret US "stealth" helicopter that crash-landed in the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in 2011.

Mr Barros said: "We are sure the Chinese military got to see the onboard equipment and software then."

The Guinness World Record-holding deepest successful salvage operation was the raising of the wreckage of a US Navy transport aircraft from the floor of the Philippine Sea in May 2019.

It was some 5,638m (18,500 ft) below the surface,

One other option, of course, is to destroy the jet to stop it getting into the hands of Beijing.

"The easiest thing to do would be to torpedo it!" said one military officer.

But that's not thought to be an avenue under consideration.

F-35C fighter jet: Race is on to reach sunken US plane... before China - BBC News

[malmomike77]

Have we got another Boeing on our hands?

[bsnub]

Have we got another Boeing on our hands?

What are you blathering on about now, numpty?

[sabang]

Have we got another Boeing on our hands?

Na, this one was a Boing. Hit the deck, went Boing, and strait into the drink.

[harrybarracuda]

[malmomike77]

What are you blathering on about now, numpty?

Two crashes in quick succession you numpty. Is there a single thread that you post on that isn't filled with you repeating the same tired lines daily?

[harrybarracuda]

I reckon it's a cover story for a new amphibious fighter jet.

[reinvented]

imagine the sinking feeling knowing that was coming out of is wages

[Backspin]

The limey F-35 crashed because the pilot failed to remove the intake covers during his pre flight inspection.

This one most likey crashed die to a snapped catch cable. This article says it was taking off. I read elsewhere that it was landing

[sabang]

I take it they are not insured by the manufacturer. Does military hardware come with any form of warranty? One for Norton.

[DrWilly]

Two crashes in quick succession you numpty.

Because your cryptic one liner was obvious to precisely no one.

imagine the sinking feeling knowing that was coming out of is wages

Few million worth. Perhaps a career killer?

[bsnub]

Because your cryptic one liner was obvious to precisely no one.

Exactly, and those cryptic one-liners occur far too often. He makes a habit out of babbling.

[harrybarracuda]

Looks like he landed too early or lost power (video at link).

Video Appears to Show F-35 Striking Aircraft Carrier Before Crashing

[bsnub]

The U.S. Navy has largely kept mum about how it will raise the wreckage of a high-tech F-35C Lightning II jet that crashed onto an aircraft carrier and fell into the South China Sea last week, but a maritime navigation alert released by the Japanese government suggests where the salvage operation may take place.

On Saturday, the Japanese Coast Guard issued a navigation warning indicating that a salvage operation was going on in a northern portion of the South China Sea, roughly 185 miles west of the Philippines and 350 miles east of Woody Island in the Paracels, a group of man-made islands on which Beijing has built an airbase and other military infrastructure.

Officials for U.S. 7th Fleet declined to comment Monday or confirm whether the alert was connected to salvaging the jet.

The command said the Navy is “making recovery operations arrangements” to recover the jet, which crashed into the deck of the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson on Jan. 24 and then fell into the water, injuring the pilot and six sailors in the process.

The pilot ejected before the jet fell into the sea, but the pilot and two other sailors were evacuated to the Philippines for medical care.

Officials said last week that all seven sailors were stable.

The Japan Coast Guard’s Hydrological and Oceanographic Department, or JHOD, is the area coordinator for “NAVAREA XI,” a maritime geographic area demarcated by the International Maritime Organization.

Saturday’s warning notes that salvage operations will be going on there “until further notice.”

JHOD told Defense News that the water depth at the location is about 11,800 feet, according to surveys.

Such a navigational warning contains information for boaters about changes to navigational aids and current marine activities or hazards such as defects, dredging, or fishing zones.

The F-35 mishap was the fifth major aviation mishap to the Vinson’s carrier strike group in the past two months.

Losing the Navy’s newest and most high-tech fighter jet in the contentious waters of the South China Sea is considered a non-starter given the Chinese government’s interest in its American adversary’s military technology.

In March, the Navy recovered an MH-60S helicopter that crashed into the Philippine Sea in January 2020, raising the wreckage from a depth of more than 3.6 miles, which was a new recovery record at the time of the operation.

A video and photos of the jet just before its crash and as it bobbed in the water leaked online late last week, and 7th Fleet confirmed their authenticity.



Navy prepares F-35C recovery op in South China Sea as Japan issues salvage notice