Race to beat China to recover $100m US F-35 stealth fighter from bottom of South China Sea after it crash landed on aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson:

[Nan Yang]

Race to beat China to recover $100m US F-35 stealth fighter from bottom of South China Sea after it crash landed on aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson: Fears secret technology from America's most advanced jet could fall into enemy hands​

• The USS Carl Vinson on Monday suffered a 'landing mishap' with F-35C warplane
• The Navy said the stealth fighter 'subsequently fell to the water'
• It is packed with the latest technology and advances in radar-deflecting design
• The ship is currently in the South China Sea, taking part in exercises
• The pilot of the F-35 ejected safely and was rescued by helicopter
• Seven were injured: three required evacuation to a medical facility in Manila

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 12:06 EST, 25 January 2022 | UPDATED: 18:47 EST, 25 January 2022

The U.S. faces a race to beat China in recovering an F-35 stealth fighter that plunged into the South China Sea on Monday after what the Navy termed a 'landing mishap' aboard the USS Carl Vinson.

The pilot was forced to eject and seven military personnel in total were injured.

The $100m warplane, customised for naval operations, plunged overboard - making it the second time in three months that an F-35 has been lost at sea.

Sailors taxi an F-35C Lightning II, assigned to the 'Argonauts' of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147, on the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson on January 22

The pilot of the F-35C deployed his landing hook to catch the deck and stop his jet, but something went wrong and he ejected and skidded over the side


More.

Race to beat China to recover $100m US F-35 stealth fighter

The U.S. faces a race to beat China in recovering an F-35 stealth fighter that plunged into the South China Sea on Monday after what the Navy termed a 'landing mishap' aboard the USS Carl Vinson.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[beijingwalker]

There is no such a race, no one cares about their crashing test toys, you can keep their F-15 crashing and recovering program worry free.

 

[One_Nation]

Looks like this race is a regular sporting event now. It was once a race in Japanese sea to recover F-35 then one close to Russian sea and now this one.

 

[GS Zhou]

I have an idea. China has countless retired J6 and J7, which have been converted to autonomous version. I think we can send 100 such retired J6/J7 to the location and sink them to sea. This can make the recovery race much more interesting.

 

[FuturePAF]

The crash video. If it’s found to be an engine issue, it would be smart to make sure future platforms are twin engined.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1490250892020383744

 

[rizhussain44]

I have an idea. China has countless retired J6 and J7, which have been converted to autonomous version. I think we can send 100 such retired J6/J7 to the location and sink them to sea. This can make the recovery race much more interesting.

Anyway F-35 is stealth, so it won’t show up as easily on any radar

 

[aziqbal]

I have an idea. China has countless retired J6 and J7, which have been converted to autonomous version. I think we can send 100 such retired J6/J7 to the location and sink them to sea. This can make the recovery race much more interesting.

F35 has clocked up more than 400,000 flying hours less than half dozen crashes

J15 copy cat only 400 hours and 4 crashes

means F35 is 600 times safer than copy cat J15

 

[FuturePAF]

The US has recovered the F-35 that went down in the SCS

 

[Shotgunner51]

The US has recovered the F-35 that went down in the SCS

Yes, recovered the trash from bottom of the sea with help of Chinese technology

https://twitter.com/x/status/1500603568235163648

 

[dbc]

Yes, recovered the trash from bottom of the sea with help of Chinese technology

https://twitter.com/x/status/1500603568235163648

Chinese technology on the Picasso? While its true the vessel was constructed in China the technology is hardly Chinese. Don't believe everything you read on Twitter

- the dive system is made by LexMar Singapore later acquired by JFD Singapore link

From the JFD Website The 18-man twin Bell twin SPHL Saturation Diving System for this vessel was proudly designed, manufactured and commissioned by JFD Singapore. This Bureau Veritas Class Approved system is similar to the previous LEXMAR DNV approved systems installed on the UDS Lichtenstein and the UDS Picasso

- the crane is made by TTS MacGregor
- DP Control and Navigation equipment Rolls Royce link
- Automation Systems Rolls Royce link

 

[Nan Yang]

The China-built ship that pulled a US Navy jet wreck from the South China Sea​

• The crashed stealth plane was brought to the surface using a specialist vessel constructed by a Chinese state firm
• The use of the maritime technology shows the need for US-China cooperation, analyst says

Liu Zhen in Beijing
Published: 7:24pm, 7 Mar, 2022

A Chinese-made ship was at the centre of the US Navy’s salvage operation last week to recover the wreck of an F-35C fighter jet from the South China Sea, according to Chinese media.

Personnel pulled the wreckage of the fighter jet from 3,780 metres (12,400 feet) below the surface on Wednesday using lift lines from the crane of the diving support construction vessel (DSCV) Picasso, the US Seventh Fleet said last week.

The Picasso, owned and run by Ultra Deep Solutions (UDS), a Singapore-based deep diving heavy construction vessel operator, was built by China Merchants Heavy Industries, one of China’s top three state-owned shipbuilders.

The DSCVs are a type of specialised vessel for deep water salvage, installation, inspection and repair.

The Picasso is one of the most advanced in service and is equipped with an advanced remotely operated vehicle known as the Curv-21, which can dive to more than 3,000 metres.

In last week’s salvage operation for the F-35C Lightning II, the Curv-21 attached special rigging and lift lines to the aircraft.

Then the crane’s lifting hook was lowered to the sea floor and connected to the rigging, and the aircraft was hoisted to the surface aboard the Picasso, according to the Seventh Fleet.

Chinese-made DSCVs have been used before to recover jets from the sea floor. In 2019, an F-35A from the Japan Air Self-Defence Force crashed into the Pacific Ocean, and the Van Gogh, another DSCV from the Singaporean company, was involved in the salvage operation.

State-run Chinese tabloid Global Times reported on Friday that the Van Gogh was also made by CMHI and one of five Chinese-made vessels operated by UDS.

Chinese military analyst Song Zhongping said China was a leader in shipbuilding, particularly in specialist vessels, and it was no surprise that ships made in the country were involved in the operation.

“This shows the need for cooperation between the US and China,” he said.

The F-35C went down in the South China Sea on January 24 after a “landing mishap” during routine flight operations on the USS Carl Vinson.

Seven sailors were injured in the incident but the pilot ejected to safety and was rescued by helicopter.

The wreckage was located in a northern portion of the South China Sea, roughly 300km (185 miles) west of the Philippines and 565km east of Woody Island in the Paracels, one of China’s major military bases in the disputed waters.

The sensitive location of the crash raised speculation that the Chinese military could try to recover the wreckage.

The Seventh Fleet began the salvage operation several days after the crash and said the effort showed the US Navy’s commitment to its assets, and a free and open Indo-Pacific​