image source,Getty Images
China denied on Thursday (Jan 27) that it was competing with the United States to salvage the wreckage of a crashed F-35C fighter jet.
“We have no interest in their planes,” Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, told reporters. He added that Beijing advised “relevant countries to do more things that are conducive to regional peace and stability, rather than flexing their muscles in the region.”
It was previously reported that the U.S. Navy was trying to find the $100 million aircraft before the Chinese military could move.
The U.S. military said earlier that the plane had an “accident” while taking off from the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and crashed into the South China Sea.
The F-35C is a cutting-edge stealth fighter for the U.S. Navy, carrying a lot of classified equipment. Analysts believe that since the site is in international waters, it would theoretically be a fair game if the two sides do compete.
“High tension”
The BBC’s Washington correspondent Claire Hills reported that if the two sides had a salvage contest, the prize would be all the secrets behind the expensive cutting-edge fighter.
The incident happened on Monday (January 24). At the time, a carrier strike group with more than 14,000 sailors, led by the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Abraham Lincoln, was conducting exercises in the South China Sea.
According to reports, the single-engine fighter jet crashed into the sea after hitting the deck of the Carl Vinson. The pilot escaped by ejection and was picked up by a U.S. helicopter, but he and six others were injured.
Its remains are now lying on the bottom of the sea, and what will happen next remains unknown. The U.S. Navy has not disclosed where it fell or how long it will take to retrieve it.
But Chinese state media reported an “unusual increase” in the activity of U.S. surveillance aircraft in the South China Sea following the F-35C crash.
image source,TED ALJIBE
The United States and the Philippines hold military exercises in the South China Sea.
The report said that a day after the accident, the United States sent at least six intelligence and surveillance planes to the vicinity of the South China Sea. The locations are mainly at the southern end of the Taiwan Strait and the area where the US dual aircraft carrier exercise area the day before, that is, the western edge of the South China Sea near the Philippines.
The report also quoted Chinese military expert Zhang Xuefeng as saying that it is not common for so many U.S. military aircraft to be dispatched suddenly, and it is “obviously” related to the F-35C crash. He believes that the United States may be worried that relevant countries will take action on the downed F-35C, which reflects the “high tension and alert state” of the US military.
Salvage competition?
China claims nearly the entire South China Sea and has taken more aggressive steps to defend that claim in recent years. Beijing has refused to recognize the 2016 decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague against the Philippines in the South China Sea arbitration, saying it had no legal basis.
After the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become increasingly severe, the United States has also significantly strengthened its military presence in the Asia-Pacific and the South China Sea recently.
Before the crash, two U.S. aircraft carriers and several other ships conducted joint tactical training with the Japan Self-Defense Forces south of Okinawa from January 17 to 22.
The USS Carl Vinson and USS Abraham Lincoln are considered to be the only two aircraft carriers currently capable of carrying the F-35C in the U.S. Navy, and the F-35C is a stealth fighter tailored for aircraft carrier operations, with stronger sea and ground attack capabilities.
Security experts said the Chinese military would be “very eager” to find the jet, while an American salvage ship appeared to be at least 10 days away from the crash site.
Defense expert Abi Austen said it would be too late because the batteries in the plane’s black box would run out before then, making it harder to locate.
“It’s critical that the U.S. gets this back,” she said. “The F-35 is basically like a flight computer. It’s designed to connect to other equipment — what the Air Force calls ‘connecting sensors and weapons.'”
She said that China does not yet have this technology, so if the Chinese military gets the technology, it will give it a huge technological leap.
“If they can get the F-35’s cyber capabilities, they can effectively disrupt the entire carrier system.”
What’s so special about the F-35C fighter jet?
- It has a networked mission system that can share in-flight information in real time.
- It is the U.S. Navy’s first “low-observable” carrier-based aircraft, capable of flying in enemy airspace undetected.
- It has larger wings and stronger landing gear, making it suitable for “catapult takeoff” from aircraft carriers at sea.
- It has the most powerful fighter jet engine in the world and can reach a top speed of 1,200 miles per hour, or Mach 1.6.
- It can carry up to two missiles on its wings and four inside.
Austin was an adviser to the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and served as a senior diplomat for NATO and the European Union. She believes that any attempt by China to assert salvage rights is a “stress test” for the United States.
She sees it as yet another moment of vulnerability and danger for the U.S. military following what some saw as a chaotic and disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Bryce Barros, a China analyst and security researcher for the Truman Project, a U.S. national security group, said that while previous cyber espionage may mean that Beijing has regulated its internal structure, layout and working methods There is some understanding, but there is no doubt that China wants this military aircraft.
“I think they’ll want to look at the actual parts of the plane to better understand the layout of the plane and identify its weaknesses.”
The U.S. Navy acknowledged in a statement that the search was underway after an “accident” on the USS Carl Vinson.
image source,Getty Images
How will the salvage work?
Once the location is determined, a team from the US Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving will attach an inflatable bag to the fuselage and slowly inflate it to float the wreckage. But if the fuselage has fallen apart, the operation will be more difficult.
The plane is likely to have carried at least two missiles, either on the wings or in the weapons bays inside, which could also complicate recovery efforts.
There is precedent for these winner-take-all military “cat and mouse games.”
In 1974, at the height of the Cold War, the CIA used a giant special mechanical claw to secretly salvage a Soviet submarine that sank off the coast of Hawaii.
Two years before that, the Chinese military secretly salvaged the British submarine HMS Poseidon, which sank off China’s east coast.
The confrontation between China and the United States in the South China Sea: why the South China Sea is a battleground for military strategists
It is also widely believed that China has obtained the wreckage of a US “stealth” helicopter that crashed during a 2011 US raid on Osama bin Laden’s residence in Pakistan.
“We are sure that the Chinese military saw the airborne equipment and software at the time,” Barros said.
In November last year, an F-35B fighter jet aboard the British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth crashed in the Mediterranean Sea shortly after takeoff. It took the UK three weeks to salvage it with the help of the US and Italy.
Our correspondent Hills reports that there is currently another option for the United States – destroy the plane to prevent it from falling into the hands of Beijing.
“The easiest way is to torpedo it!” said one officer.
But for now, this is not considered an avenue the U.S. military is considering.
