According to the news released by the "South China Sea Strategic Situational Awareness" platform on February 9, a usable marine surveillance ship of the US Navy recently appeared near the site of the previous F-35C carrier-based aircraft accident. According to the prediction of the "South China Sea Strategic Situational Awareness" platform, the "effective number" came to the South China Sea this time to conduct reconnaissance of the underwater forces in the sea. After the F-35C, an advanced U.S. fighter jet, crashed into the sea on January 24, the U.S. Navy has been worried that the F-35C will be salvaged by other countries, and then has access to the core secrets of this advanced fighter of the United States. Therefore, the US military has frequently sent anti-submarine reconnaissance aircraft to the sea for reconnaissance.
According to the news released by the "South China Sea Strategic Situation" perception platform on January 29, the US Navy is gradually transporting salvage equipment to the accident area, and salvage work may begin in the near future. However, on February 7, a video of the alleged F-35C fighter crashing into the sea circulated on social media, and the reason for the F-35C carrier-based aircraft crashing into the sea once again aroused heated discussion.
According to a video posted on social media, at about 4 p.m. on January 24, the F-35C fighter flew from the air and was about to descend to the deck of the aircraft carrier, but approached the "Carl Vinson" aircraft carrier at a very steep downward angle, and finally the rear of the fighter hit the aircraft deck heavily, followed by the aircraft's nose and heavy shots on the deck. After the violent impact, the aircraft instantly caught fire and burned, and the tail of the aircraft dragged a huge fireball quickly forward on the deck of the aircraft carrier, and finally fell into the sea, and some incendiary fragments also fell to other military aircraft docked on the deck. Fortunately, the pilot successfully parachuted at the last minute to escape, and the staff on the aircraft carrier urgently extinguished the fire.
At present, this video has been confirmed by the US Navy, acknowledging that the fighter in the video is the F-35 fighter that fell into the South China Sea. Combined with this video, some experts said that the reason for the F-35C fighter's landing in the sea has a lot to do with the pilot's control, rather than the problem that the blocking cable that has been predicted before failed to hook the landing wheel of the aircraft.
According to aviation experts, when landing on the deck of the aircraft carrier, the pilot's posture was not well mastered, mainly due to the problem of the downward angle. The aircraft approached the carrier deck at an overly steep sliding angle, and the aircraft's elevation angle was not well controlled as it approached the carrier deck. The F-35C is different from other U.S. carrier-based aircraft before it, and its main landing gear is very close to its tail hook, which has special requirements for the landing skills of the F-35C.
The pilot should approach the aircraft carrier deck with a very precise downhill gradient, and the pilot should contact the aircraft carrier at a very suitable elevation angle. This action is mainly to make the main landing gear of the F-35C able to let go of the blocking cable, and its tail hook can be hung on the blocking cable. This means that the F-35C landing accuracy is more demanding than that of traditional carrier-based aircraft.
Previously, when the F-35C first landed on an aircraft carrier, the distance between the main landing gear and the tail hook was too short, resulting in a great difficulty for the pilot to land the ship and was criticized. The U.S. Navy also made a special assessment for this purpose, and even wanted to ask Loma to revise the design of the F-35C fighter, but it was not possible. The final solution was to increase pilot training and improve pilots' landing proficiency.
In general, the aircraft carrier deck has a strong protective capacity and is made of very heavy metal. After the plane collides with it, the problem with the deck itself is very small, but the problem with the aircraft is very large. The impact of metal forms a spark, coupled with the damage to the aircraft's fuselage structure, fuel leakage, it is easy to form a deflagration.
Therefore, judging from the released video, the improper operation of the pilot is likely to be an important reason for the F-35C's sea crash. At present, the determination of the United States to salvage the F-35C is very large. The first is to prevent the leakage of the core sensitive secrets of the F-35C. Second, only by salvaging the F-35C fighter can the real reason for the failure of the F-35C landing be accurately found according to the damage of the aircraft, which is crucial for the maintenance of the combat effectiveness of the US F-35C carrier-based aircraft force.
However, it is already very difficult for the US military to fully salvage the F-35C fighter, because the fighter itself is likely to be seriously damaged. In addition, the accurate location of the crash site and the topography and water depth of the relevant sea areas have caused great difficulties to the salvage work of the United States.