Earlier this week, a US F-35 stealth fighter pilot ejected as his jet crashed on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier in the South China Sea, injuring seven.
The pilot was conducting routine flight operations when the crash happened. They safely ejected and were recovered by a military helicopter, Pacific Fleet said. The pilot is in stable condition.Six others were injured on the deck of the carrier. Three required evacuation to a medical facility in Manila, Philippines, where they are in stable condition, according to Pacific Fleet. The other three sailors were treated on the carrier and have been released.The cause of what the statement called a “inflight mishap” is under investigation.
Fortunately, it appears the injured are on the road to recovery.
Three of the injured sailors were taken to a medical facility in Manila, while the other four were treated aboard the ship.Three of the four have since been released.
The F-35C is the world’s only long-range stealth strike fighter designed and built explicitly for US Navy carrier operations. However, that may not be true if China beats us to retrieve the downed aircraft.
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 $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.The U.S. Navy is making recovery operations arrangements for the F-35C aircraft involved in the mishap aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) in the South China Sea, Jan. 24,’ a spokesperson for the US 7th Fleet told DailyMail.com.’We cannot speculate on what the PRC’s intentions are on this matter.’It leaves the Navy with a complex salvage operation if it is avoid its most sophisticated warplane, crammed with futuristic technology, falling into the hands of the People’s Republic of China.
After American and Japanese forces recently completed a joint naval exercise in the Philippine Sea, China has been busy in the region.
China sent 39 warplanes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Sunday, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said, the largest such incursion this year.The flights by the People’s Liberation Army aircraft came a day after the United States and Japanese navies put on a massive show of force in the Philippine Sea, putting together a flotilla that included two US Navy aircraft carriers, two US amphibious assault ships and a Japanese helicopter destroyer, essentially a small aircraft carrier.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the Navy recently moved sailors aboard its newest base, a strategic installation in northern Poland that will support NATO’s European missile defense system.
Personnel completed their move Thursday from off base into a $50 million multipurpose residential building at Naval Support Facility Redzikowo, U.S. 6th Fleet said in a statement Friday.NSF Redzikowo, located about two hours west of Gdansk on the Baltic Sea coast, supports the Aegis Ashore missile defense system.It integrates the systems of Navy destroyers based in Rota, Spain, and the Aegis capabilities at Naval Support Facility Deveselu, Romania, the Navy said.
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