According to CCTV, on January 25, local time, the US Seventh Fleet issued a statement saying that an F-35C fighter had an accident while trying to land on the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson during exercises with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, crashed into the flight deck, and fell into the sea. The U.S. military said it was investigating the cause of the accident. Mark Langford, a spokesman for the Seventh Fleet, called the damage to the carrier deck "superficial." He said all the equipment used for flight operations is currently functioning normally. The CARL Vinson is an aircraft carrier that can accommodate fourth- and fifth-generation attack fighters, capable of carrying 65 fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft.
The U.S. Naval Security Center said it was the fifth Class Aviation accident to have occurred on an aircraft carrier since Nov. 22 last year. This is also another major accident on the aircraft carrier of the F-35 fighter after the British F-35B fighter jet lost in the Mediterranean last year.
Simulation of salvaging a British F-35B fighter
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's
We have no interest in U.S. military aircraft
On January 27, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian replied, "Regarding reports that an F35 fighter jet fell in the South China Sea during the US naval exercise, some experts said that China will recover the fighter before the US side. "I have noticed relevant reports, and I have also noticed that this is not the first time that the United States has had an accident in the South China Sea, a submarine hit the mountain in the previous paragraph, and they have not made it clear, this time their aircraft carrier aircraft has had another accident and fell into the South China Sea, and we have no interest in their aircraft." We advise the countries concerned to do more things conducive to regional peace and stability, rather than showing off force in the region at every turn. ”
It is reported that the F-35C fighter is a carrier-based aircraft of the fifth-generation fighter F-35, which is a carrier-based aircraft specially tailored for aircraft carriers and is worth 100 million US dollars (about 600 million yuan). The U.S. Pacific Fleet said on January 24 local time that the accident injured seven people, including a pilot, who was rescued after the ejection capsule. After the accident, foreign media speculated that because the accident occurred in international waters, the US Navy would quickly take salvage operations to prevent the leakage of confidential data files on the fighter jets.
Salvaging a fighter jet from the bottom of the sea is no easy task, and not every fighter that falls into the sea can be salvaged ashore. It is reported that in April 2019, a Japanese Air Self-Defense Force F-35A fighter jet crashed into the western Pacific Ocean, and most of the fuselage has not been found so far.
Haidilao:
Position and then drill the hole and finally inflate the lift
According to foreign media reports, Brenda Way, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet, said the U.S. Navy was deploying F-35C fighter jets to prepare for the accident. But the U.S. Navy did not disclose the exact location of the crash or the specific plans for the recovery operation.
Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the U.S. Pacific Command's Hawaii Joint Intelligence Center, predicted that it would take 10 to 15 days for the U.S. salvage vessel to arrive at the crash site and about 120 days for the salvage operation to be completed.
It is unclear how deep the waters into which the fighter fell, but the U.S. Navy has considerable experience in salvaging the wreckage of fighters in deep waters. It is reported that in 2019, the US military salvaged a C-2A Greyhound transport aircraft nearly 5,000 meters under the seabed in the Philippines. It is reported that in the past 8 years, there have been 9 major aircraft failure accidents in the United States.
On November 17, 2021, local time, an F-35B stealth fighter on the British Royal Navy aircraft carrier "Queen Elizabeth" crashed into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after liftoff, and the pilot parachuted to escape. It is reported that this fighter is the latest and most expensive stealth fighter of the British Army, worth about $100 million.
In order to prevent classified data and technology from falling into the hands of other countries, the British immediately dispatched the Royal Navy's submarines and special forces to salvage the wreckage of the fighter. In addition, the United Kingdom sought help from the Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV), which immediately provided it with salvage equipment in Spain, including the Towed Beacon Locator 25 (TPL-25).
TPL-25 for positioning. Image source NAVY
The TPL-25 system can detect signals from emergency beacons and determine their location, with a maximum detection depth of 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) underground. The system consists of a towed fish (an underwater towed detection instrument box towed behind a boat), a tow cable, a winch, a hydraulic power unit, a generator and a top console, navigating and locating through algorithms for the number of cables in the water, pressure sensor data, and other parameters.
The fish is equipped with a monitoring device that can detect black boxes that can automatically send ultrasonic pulses. The black box is an instrument used to record the flight and performance parameters of an aircraft and can be used for flight accident analysis. While most aircraft black boxes emit at 37.5 kHz per second, the TPL-25 can detect all instruments with emission frequencies between 3.5 kHz and 50 kHz. When the listening device receives the sonic signal, it transmits it to the cable and outputs it to the computer in the form of sound waves. Based on the maximum signal intensity of the monitored sound waves, the crew can record the navigation coordinates and repeat the process on multiple track lines until the specific location of the plane's fall is finally determined.
Aircraft deep-sea salvage systems for salvage. Image source NAVY
Two weeks after the British warplane crashed, the U.S. Navy managed to locate the Wreckage of the F-35B on the seabed. The U.S. military then provided it with a winch (Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System, the aircraft's deep-sea salvage system, FADOSS). It is reported that this system can provide up to 60,000 pounds (about 27 tons) of deep-sea salvage capacity, specifically for the salvage of large, heavy equipment.
The U.S. military also put a remotely controlled submersible (CURV-21) into the sea, allowing it to drill holes in suitable locations for the wreckage of the aircraft and install "underwater lift bags." It is reported that the submersible weighs about 6400 pounds (about 2.88 tons), the maximum operating depth can reach 6000 meters, and the "underwater lift bag" dedicated to the US salvage office can be inflated by itself after being installed in place, and the wreckage of the aircraft can be taken out of the water.
In the end, with the help of the United States and Italy, the British spent a total of three weeks salvaging the fallen fighter jets ashore.
Red Star News reporter Wang Yalin intern reporter Li Jinrui
Edited by Pan Li
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