The U.S. Navy confirmed on January 24, local time, that an F-35C carrier-based aircraft had an accident while landing on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) on the 24th, injuring seven aircraft carrier crew members. F-35C pilot “ejected safely”. This is the first time a U.S. Navy F-35C fleet has landing accident on an offshore deployment mission.
The U.S. fleet headed to the South China Sea includes one RC-135V strategic reconnaissance aircraft (AE01C5), one RC-135W strategic reconnaissance aircraft (AE01CD), one EP-3E reconnaissance aircraft (AE1D90), one MQ-4C unmanned reconnaissance aircraft (AE5C76), and multiple P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft entering the South China Sea for reconnaissance aircraft activities, and an E-3C early warning aircraft (AE11E0) also suspected to be headed to the South China Sea area to control the situation.
Earlier, ADSB signals showed a U.S. Navy P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft (AE6861) entering the South China Sea through the Bashi Strait and then crossing the Taiwan Strait from south to north, the first time a U.S. military aircraft has crossed the Taiwan Strait in 2022.
Meanwhile, another RC-135W strategic reconnaissance aircraft (AE01CD) and a P-8A ASW patrol aircraft (AE67B8) entered the South China Sea through the Bashi Strait to conduct reconnaissance activities, with the RC-135W conducting close reconnaissance operations around Guangdong, Fujian.
The U.S. Navy said on the 25th local time that the U.S. Navy has begun to salvage the F-35C fighter jet that crashed into the South China Sea. Some analyst told the U.S. media that China “definitely wants to see this crashed F-35C.”
At present, the U.S. Navy is salvaging the F-35C fighter jet. According to Reuters in Washington, the U.S. Navy said on the 25th local time that the U.S. Navy has begun to salvage the F-35C fighter jet that crashed into the South China Sea. CNN quoted Colonel Carl Schuster, former director of operations at the U.S. Pacific Command’s Hawaii Joint Intelligence Center, as saying that it would take 10 to 15 days for a U.S. salvage vessel to travel to the scene, and once at the scene, the operation could take up to 120 days, depending on how deep the F-35C jet fell in the South China Sea.
The U.S. military’s high-profile operation in the South China Sea after the F-35C crashed into the sea and the expected months-long salvage operation time have aroused the suspicion of many Chinese people.
Some Chinese analysts believe this is likely a self-directed disinformation campaign by the U.S. to use it as an excuse to deploy military forces in the South China Sea for an extended period of time, drawing an analogy with the missing Japanese soldier on the night of July 7, 1937.
On the night of July 7, 1937, the Japanese army, practicing near the Lugou Bridge southwest of Beijing, demanded to enter Wanping County on the pretext that a soldier was “missing” and searched. The Japanese army’s request was refused by the 29th Chinese defending army. The Japanese then fired at the Chinese defenders and shelled Wanping City. The 29th Army rose up to fight against the Japanese army – the July 7 “Lugouqiao Incident” that shocked China and abroad thus broke out, and China’s eight-year war against Japan began.
In addition, a big doubt about this incident is the photo of the moment the F-35C crashed into the sea. This photo was apparently taken by a crew member of the aircraft carrier “Carl Vinson”, but it is said to have circulated bizarrely on the Chinese Internet before appearing on overseas social media such as Twitter and Facebook, and was then confirmed by the U.S. Navy, contrary to the direction in which similar incidents have circulated in the past.
Over the past month, the U.S. Navy has been deploying military forces to the Asia-Pacific region, with the aircraft carriers USS Carl Vinson and USS Essex in the South China Sea, the aircraft carrier USS Reagan in the Sea of Japan, and the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln on its way, plus the amphibious assault ship USS America heading to the East China Sea. Now the U.S. military has three aircraft carriers and two amphibious assault ships in the Asia-Pacific region, which seem to be preparing for war.