USN races to salvage crashed F35C fighter in South China Sea

[Haijun watcher]

...although China claimed "salvage rights"

CNN

US Navy wants to get crashed stealth fighter back -- before China can

By Brad Lendon, CNN

Updated 8:33 AM ET, Wed January 26, 2022

Seoul, South Korea (CNN)The United States Navy is trying to retrieve its most advanced fighter jet from the depths of the South China Sea, an extremely complex operation that analysts say will be closely monitored by Beijing.

The F-35C, a single-engine stealth fighter and the newest jet in the US Navy fleet, crash-landed on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson during routine operations on Monday, the Navy said.
The $100 million warplane impacted the flight deck of the 100,000-ton aircraft carrier and then fell into the sea as its pilot ejected, Navy officials said. The pilot and six sailors aboard the Vinson were injured.

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[Haijun watcher]

Defense News

Navy prepares F-35C recovery op in South China Sea as Japan issues salvage notice
By Mike Yeo and Geoff Ziezulewicz
Jan 31, 05:14 PM
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.



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[Haijun watcher]

South China Morning Post

More US missions in South China Sea a factor in F-35C fighter crash: Chinese researcher


Laura Zhou
Tue., February 1, 2022, 2:54 a.m.


More frequent military exercises carried out as part of the Biden administration�s efforts to counter China in the Indo-Pacific are partly to blame for the crash of a F-35C jet in the South China Sea, according to a Chinese observer.
Chen Xiangmiao, an assistant research fellow with the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, said the United States had ramped up its military activities in the South China Sea in the past year to make �potential enemies clearly aware that the costs and risks of aggression are not commensurate with any conceivable benefits�.
�It is also the frequent military activities that have forced US frontline personnel to endure far more intense missions than ever before,� Chen said.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
His assessment, which was first published on the news portal Guancha.cn, comes as the US races to retrieve a F-35C Lightning II jet that crashed in the South China Sea and sank last week after a �landing mishap�.

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[Haijun watcher]

Another leaked video:



Popular Mechanics

This Leaked Video Shows an F-35's Fiery Crash in the South China Sea


Kyle Mizokami
Wed, February 9, 2022, 12:11 p.m.


Anonymous leakers within the U.S. Navy have uploaded footage of January's F-35 crash on the USS Carl Vinson.
The smartphone footage quickly spread across social media.
The Pentagon confirmed the footage was real and vowed not only to investigate the crash but the leak itself.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed the authenticity of leaked footage showing a Navy F-35C fighter bomber crashing aboard the USS Carl Vinson last month. The video depicts the jet striking the flight deck, skidding across it, and ultimately plunging into the waters of the South China Sea.
That series of events lines up with a January 24 statement from the U.S. Pacific Fleet, which characterized the incident as a "landing mishap." All told, seven sailors were injured. It was the first crash ever involving an F-35C.
Commander Zachary Harrell, a public affairs officer for the Naval Air Force, confirmed the video's authenticity to The Hill: "We are aware that there has been an unauthorized release of video footage from flight deck cameras onboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) of the F-35C Lightning II crash that occurred Jan. 24, in the South China Sea."
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[Haijun watcher]

Heads rolling over the video leak:

Military.com

Five Sailors Charged in F-35C Crash Video Leak
18 Feb 2022
Military.com | By Konstantin Toropin
The Navy has revealed that five sailors � an ensign and four chief petty officers � have been charged with Uniform Code of Military Justice violations over their alleged part in the leak of video footage from last month�s F-35C Lightning II crash aboard the USS Carl Vinson.
Naval Air Forces spokesman Cmdr. Zach Harrell told Military.com in an emailed statement that an ensign, as well as a senior chief and three chief petty officers, have all been charged under Article 92 of the military�s code of justice. Article 92 is failure to obey a lawful order.
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[Haijun watcher]

Business Insider

US Navy pulls sunken F-35 stealth fighter up 12,400 feet from the bottom of the South China Sea

Julie Coleman
Thu, March 3, 2022, 9:26 a.m.�3 min read

The US Navy has fished a sunken F-35C stealth fighter jet out of the South China Sea.
The jet crashed on January 24 while conducting routine flight operations.
Recovering the plane was a priority given the sensitive nature of the advanced technology and the location of the crash.
The US Navy has managed to recover a sunken F-35C stealth fighter jet from the South China Sea a little over a month after it crashed on the deck of aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and fell into the sea.
The carrier-based fifth-generation fighter jet crashed on January 24 while conducting routine flight operations, according to the Navy, which initially characterized the incident as a "landing mishap."
The wrecked aircraft was recovered from a depth of 12,400 feet by a team from 7th Fleet and Naval Sea Systems Command using the diving support construction vessel (DSCV) Picasso and a CURV-21 unit, which is a remotely operated vehicle that attached rigging and lift lines to the aircraft, the Navy said in a press release.

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