U.S. Navy In Race To Recover F-35C Wreckage After Carrier ‘Mishap’

The U.S. Navy has issued a statement saying it is exploring recovery options for the wreckage of one of its Fifth Generation F-35C stealth fighters that sank in the South China Sea after a “landing mishap” on the carrier USS Carl Vinson on Monday (Jan. 31). The pilot was rescued from the sea by helicopter after ejecting, and six sailors on board were injured, but none with life-threatening injuries.

Lieutenant Nicholas Lingo, a spokesman for the U.S. 7th Fleet, said damage to the flight deck was superficial, and, “I can confirm the aircraft impacted the flight deck during landing and subsequently fell to the water. The U.S. Navy is making recovery operations arrangements for the F-35C aircraft. Carrier Air Wing 2 and USS Carl Vinson have resumed routine flight operations in the South China Sea.”

Collin Koh, a research fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, told the South China Morning News, “If the Americans decided to abandon the plane on the seabed and completely ignore it, then it’ll become an open invitation to others to come and retrieve it, so long as they have the capability. I don’t think the Americans wish for the tech or associated intelligence to fall into the hands of U.S. adversaries, not least China. It’s too much of an intelligence bonanza to concede to a strategic peer competitor like China.”

However, Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie is skeptical of the People’s Liberation Army’s chances to retrieve the wreckage in advance of U.S. efforts, despite China having developed “the world’s most advanced diving technology.” He told the news source it’s because of “the complicated underwater landscape in the South China Sea” and the fact that “only the U.S. Navy knows the specific location of the crashed fighter jet.”