[Correspondent Diary] US F-35 Salvage... US-China Collaboration(?)

Chinese Dry Ship Recovers F-35C Fighter Jet from 3780m Underwater
Japan Uses Chinese Ship for F-35A Salvage...Claims Cooperation, Not China-US Conflict

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] The latest U.S. stealth fighter jet F-35C, which crashed into the sea during training in the South China Sea on January 24, has been salvaged. It took 37 days since the crash.

Photo by CNN capture

At the time, there were concerns that if China recovered the fighter jet first, the U.S.'s cutting-edge stealth technology could be leaked.

The F-35C is a carrier-based aircraft belonging to the U.S. Navy, deployed on aircraft carriers. Among the three F-35 variants (Air Force F-35A, Marine Corps F-35B), it was developed last and was deployed in actual combat last year. The F-35C, developed as a carrier-based aircraft, has larger wings than the F-35A or F-35B to increase lift. However, its wings can fold. The F-35C's range is known to be 2,593 km. Since it uses an aircraft carrier as a launch base, it is designed to fly 200 km farther than the F-35A and F-35B.

Foreign media, including the U.S., reported that such a cutting-edge fighter jet must not fall into Chinese hands and that the crashed fighter jet should be recovered as soon as possible.

Chinese media, seemingly offended by overseas public opinion, expressed displeasure by stating they had no interest in the crashed F-35C fighter jet. The tone was that China is no longer a country that steals others' technology.

The state-run Global Times reported on the 6th about the U.S. 7th Fleet’s announcement of the F-35C salvage, stating that the U.S. military was able to successfully recover the F-35C thanks to Chinese equipment.

The Global Times said that the salvage operation involved the Picasso submarine support vessel belonging to Singapore’s UDS, which was built by China’s Shenzhen Zhonggong Industry and delivered to Singapore UDS.

It also reported that the salvage operation of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s F-35A fighter jet, which crashed in the Pacific Ocean near Aomori Prefecture, Japan, in April 2019, also involved a salvage ship built by Shenzhen Zhonggong Industry. The media emphasized that thanks to the Chinese-made submarine support vessel, the U.S. military was able to recover the F-35C from a depth of 3,780 meters.

The Global Times added that Singapore UDS, established in 2014, currently owns five deep-sea work vessels, all of which were built and delivered by Chinese shipbuilding companies.

The Global Times reported that although the U.S. regarded China as a "virtual enemy" and was hostile at the time of the F-35C crash, the background to the successful salvage was China’s shipbuilding technology.

Quoting military experts, the media claimed that the U.S. possesses deep-sea exploration technology, while China has deep-sea work vessel construction technology, and without the deep-sea work support vessels built by China, the F-35C could not have been recovered. It also stated that China and the U.S. are not adversaries but partners in cooperation.

The Chinese state media’s article on the F-35C salvage is somewhat opportunistic, but it shows that China hopes for cooperation rather than conflict with the U.S.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.