Retrieve the F-35C fighter jet that crashed in the South China Sea before China… US naval emergency

CNN reported on the 26th that the U.S. Navy is in an emergency to recover faster before China finds the latest F-35C stealth fighter that crashed into the South China Sea after an impact on the U.S. carrier Carrier Carl Vinson during a regular operation on the 24th. The recovery of the crashed F-35C fighter is an extremely complex and difficult operation, experts believe, and China will closely monitor it.

The pilots of the F-35C fighter jets costing $100 million each escaped and were rescued, but the pilot and six Calvinson crew members were injured.

Nicholas Ringo, a spokesman for the US 7th Fleet, said he was preparing an F-35C recovery operation, but did not provide details. The US Navy does not disclose where the F-35C fighter jet crashed in the South China Sea, but China claims almost all of the South China Sea as its territory and reinforces its claim by militarizing reefs and islands in the South China Sea. In addition, the Chinese navy and patrol ships are stationed in the South China Sea at all times.

China has not officially commented on the crash of the F-35, but it is certain they will want to see the crashed F-35, CNN reported. “China will use submarines and submersibles to locate and investigate the crash,” said Carl Schuster, former director of operations at the U.S. Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center in Hawaii.

But Colin Koh, a researcher at Singapore’s S Rajaratnam Graduate School of International Studies, said, “If China publicly seeks to retrieve a crashed US fighter, it risks exacerbating tensions with the US. “I don’t think China has the guts to do that,” he said. “However, it is expected that China will continue to monitor the U.S. salvage and recovery efforts and will follow suit like a shadow,” he added.

Schuster, the former director of operations, said the U.S. Navy’s retrieval of the F-35C could take several months, depending on the depth at which it crashed in the South China Sea.

When asked whether the US could simply destroy the wreckage of a crashed F-35C with a torpedo or explosive interceptor, analysts said it was unlikely.

[서울=뉴시스]