F-35 crashes in the Mediterranean, what happened
British F-35 crashes in the Mediterranean during routine operation. All the details
Yesterday a British F-35 fighter crashed in the Mediterranean Sea during a routine operation. This was announced by the UK Ministry of Defense.
The pilot ejected from the aircraft and returned safely to the aircraft carrier Hms Queen Elizabeth. The crash occurred at 10:00 in international waters and no other aircraft were involved. The dicastery also informed that an investigation into the incident was launched, but did not comment further.
According to reports from the BBC , the investigation will focus primarily on clarifying the causes of the accident, in particular whether it was a technical or human error.
It is the first accident involving a RAF F-35B, although in the last three years there have been three.
“The aircraft is one of 24 so far delivered to the British. So far the British are ordering 48 jets, but have pledged to buy 138. Although the number is likely to be reduced, ”reports Defense News . ( Here the deepening of Start : The United Kingdom is betting everything on Tempest and stalling on the F-35 ). With 138 F-35s, Britain would be the third largest operator of the fifth generation fighters manufactured by Lockheed-Martin, behind the United States and Japan.
Full details on the incident involving a UK F-35B.
THE NOTE FROM THE UK DEFENSE MINISTRY
"An investigation has begun, so it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time," reads the note from the British Defense Department.
"The incident occurred shortly after the F-35 took off," Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said, as reported by the Guardian. Despite the incident, other operational and training flights involving fighters are proceeding for the time being, Wallace added.
A British F35 pilot from HMS Queen Elizabeth ejected during routine flying operations in the Mediterranean this morning.
The pilot has been safely returned to the ship and an investigation has begun, so it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.
– Ministry of Defense Press Office (@DefenceHQPress) November 17, 2021
ON BOARD THE QUEEN ELIZABETH CARRIER
Built by the US company Lockheed Martin, the UK F-35Bs are the "short take-off and vertical landing variant" of the F-35. They are flown by pilots from the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, based at RAF Marham in Norfolk.
On board the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier are eight UK and ten US F-35Bs. The aircraft carrier is returning to the UK after more than seven months at sea on a maiden voyage to the Far East and back. In the past six months, they have made approximately 2,000 take-offs and landings aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth with no major incidents.
THE OPERATIONS CARRIED OUT SO FAR BY THE BRITISH F-35
In June, F-35s operating off the Queen Elizabeth carried out combat missions in the Middle East against ISIS, the first combat action for a British aircraft carrier in over a decade, CNN reported.
The British F-35s saw their first fight in 2019, in operations against Isis in Iraq and Syria from a Royal Air Force base on the island of Cyprus, CNN adds.
ALL LATEST ACCIDENTS
This is the first time that a British F-35 has crashed, but it is not the first accident involving the fifth generation fighter manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
As CNN recalls, in September 2018, a United States Marine Corps F-35B crashed in South Carolina, the first ever F-35 crash.
In April 2019, a Japanese F-35A crashed in the Pacific Ocean off northern Japan .
The plane was conducting a drill along with three other F-35s when it disappeared from radar just 28 minutes after takeoff. The missing pilot had 3,200 flight hours to his credit but only 60 on the F-35 and did not report any problems. The plane crashed in waters reaching approximately 1,500 meters (4,920 feet) in depth, making recovery, particularly of its flight recorder or black box, difficult. The Japanese Ministry of Defense later attributed that incident to spatial disorientation, meaning the pilot could not adequately perceive the surrounding environment.
In May 2020, a U.S. Air Force F-35A crashed in Florida during routine training, but the pilot was ejected safely. The latest incident occurred last April when a Marine Corps F-35B was damaged by a shot from its own cannon.
RECOVER LOCKHEED MARTIN'S HUNT?
Finally, returning to yesterday's incident, "after the pilot has been expelled and is now back on board, efforts will now be made to recover the jet, each costing around 100 million pounds," commented the BBC .
In fact, "it was not immediately said whether the United Kingdom would attempt to recover the wreck of the F-35 from the Mediterranean," the CNN said .
When the Japanese F-35 crashed in 2019, it was speculated that the remains of the fighter could be a target for potential adversaries like Russia and China to get their hands on the fifth generation weapon system. But both the United States and Japan had rejected this hypothesis.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/f-35-precipita-nel-mediterraneo-cosa-e-successo/ on Thu, 18 Nov 2021 15:35:12 +0000.