Wreckage Of The British F-35 B Ditched In the Mediterranean Sea Has Been Recovered

The remains of the airplane are now being transferred to an allied port so it can then be airlifted back to the UK.

The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence revealed on Dec. 7 the conclusion of the operations for the healing of the Royal Air Force F-35 B that crashed in the Mediterranean Sea. As we currently thoroughly reported, the airplane crashed while removing from the HMS Queen Elizabeth attack aircraft carrier on Nov. 17, 2021, as it could not attain sufficient speed to take off supposedly due to the fact that the engine consumed a “inexpensive plastic rain cover” or an air consumption cover.

” Operations to recuperate the UK F-35 jet in the Mediterranean Sea have actually effectively concluded,” stated the MoD in a declaration. “We extend our thanks to our NATO allies Italy and the United States of America for their assistance throughout the healing operation.” The U.S. Navy dispatched a specialized ship of the Emergency Ship Salvage Material (ESSM) System from its 6th Fleet HQ in Rota (Spain), while there are no information about the assistance supplied by the Italian Navy.

It took 2 weeks to find the wreck and another week to bring it up, according to defence sources discussed by British papers. The healing effort was made complex by the place where the F-35 dropped, as it occurred in open water with depths that can surpass, in some locations, over 3,000 meters (about 10,000 feet), and by rough sea conditions while the operations were happening.

The recuperated wreck, or what stays of it, is being transferred by a chartered salvage ship to an undefined allied port so it can be later on airlifted back to the UK. According to The Sun, authorities firmly insisted all the wreckage had actually been recuperated and “there is no threat or compromise to delicate devices on the airplane”. Even if the possibilities of another nation finding and making use of any of the aircraft’s remains were little, the UK MoD didn’t wish to take any opportunities.

Marine Fighter Attack Squadron211 prepares to equip an active F-35B Lightning II aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth in the Indo-Pacific on August 05,2021. A historic very first for HMS Queen Elizabeth, rearming and refueling active airplane enables Marines to increase sortie generation, offering leaders increased choices. This training highlights the distinct benefits and chances which Carrier Strike Group 21 offers the United States Marine Corps, United States Navy, and Royal Navy and our dedication to shared security.( Photo: 1st Lt. Zachary Bodner/ U.S. Marine Corps)

National Security Adviser Sir Stephen Lovegrove, as reported by the UK Defence Journal,informed the Commons Defence Committee on December 6:

” The pilot was recuperated securely and is still going through medical checks. We are ideally that he will be definitely great. It would be early of me to talk about the factors for the mishap. The healing of the flight information recorder and the wreckage are truly important for a precise examination to identify the reasons for the crash. Plainly the speedy healing of the airplane is what we want to do and we are working carefully with allies on the mechanics of that. We have not got the aircraft up.

We know Russian undersea abilities, and you are rather best to recognize them as being cutting-edge. The type of safety measures and operations that we are carrying out at the minute are developed a minimum of in part to make sure that the innovation of the F-35 B stays as personal as you would like it to be. Those security elements are quite at the top of our mind. My understanding is that the specialists understand where the airplane is.”

TheUK Defence Journal was likewise the very first to report another intriguing piece of info about this occurrence. As we reported, a video from the HMS Queen Elizabeth’s camera system, revealing the minute of the crash and the ejection of the pilot, was dripped online about 2 weeks after the incident. The video was taped with a cellphone from the ship computer system’s screens and distributed amongst the team onboard, prior to being shared outboard without consent.

According to the source pointed out by the site, a male team member of HMS Queen Elizabeth’s ship business was jailed in connection with the video leakage and has actually been right away flown back to the UK. The source was supposedly able to validate the details straight with the HMS Queen Elizabeth’s ship business.

The lost F -35 B was determined as ZM152, with modex 018and building and construction number BK18 The airplane was supposedly among the most just recently provided British F- 35 B, with its very first flight reported in June2019 The exact same details was likewise discovered in the F-35 airplane database hosted by the site F-16 internet

Interesting( and frustrating) to discover that the F-35 B that was lost from the QE was ZM 152; she initially flew in June2019 and is, for that reason, among the more recent F-35 Bs in the UK fleet, with considerably lower Block IV upgrade requirements than older airframes. Therefore a higher loss pic.twitter.com/wHnxHQLVtG

— Justin Bronk (@Justin_Br0nk) December 6, 2021

The attack aircraft carrier, together with the Carrier Strike Group, will return house in nowadays, with the U.S. Marine Corps F-35 Bs currently disembarked at NAS Rota and the UK airplane disembarking as the HMS Queen Elizabeth comes up to the UK coasts.