F-16.net

But later in the day, Colonel John Hutcheson, the director of public affairs at U.S. Forces Japan, contacted the Nikkei Asian Review and said "the aircraft has not been located at the bottom of the sea. The U.S. military is still working with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force to locate the wreckage."

Crashed F-35A fighter jet located, US general says
Wreckage risked exposing military secrets if retrieved by China or Russia

ALEX FANG, Nikkei staff writer
APRIL 30, 2019 08:17 JST UPDATED ON APRIL 30, 2019 14:33 JST

NEW YORK -- A U.S. Air Force commander told reporters here Monday that the F-35A stealth fighter that crashed off the coast of Japan had been located, and that recovery efforts were underway.

"The aircraft's been located. ... It's now in the recovery aspect," said Charles Brown, four-star general and commander of the Pacific Air Forces, in a briefing for reporters in New York.

But later in the day, Colonel John Hutcheson, the director of public affairs at U.S. Forces Japan, contacted the Nikkei Asian Review and said "the aircraft has not been located at the bottom of the sea. The U.S. military is still working with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force to locate the wreckage."

Since the Japanese-built jet disappeared April 9, Japan time, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force and the U.S. military have poured resources into searching for its wreckage, which could expose sensitive American military technology secrets if retrieved by China or Russia.

The F-35, a fifth-generation fighter developed by American defense contractor Lockheed Martin, evades radar and is expected to play a crucial role in the defense strategies of the U.S. and its allies for decades to come. It "can track and destroy adversary cruise missiles today, and, in the future, can be equipped with a new or modified interceptor capable of shooting down adversary ballistic missiles in their boost phase," the U.S. Department of Defense said in its 2019 Missile Defense Review.

The Chinese and the Russians have been eager to acquire information on the tech behind the F-35. Wreckage from the crashed plane could give them access to study the radar-absorbing materials key to the aircraft's stealth features.

The U.S. is working very closely with the Japanese side in support of the recovery of the aircraft, Brown said.

On the 7th, with regard to the accident that the latest sharp stealth fighter F35A of the Air Self-Defense Force Misawa base (Aomori prefecture) crashed in the Pacific Ocean off the prefecture on July 7, a part of the flight recorder (flight recording device) was It was discovered and revealed as being withdrawn. No memory has been found in which flight records etc. have been saved, and the pilot, Akira Hosomi 3rd grader (41), is still missing and continues searching.

　According to Iwaya, after a search on the 3rd, the flight recording device and a part of the rear window of the cockpit were found, and the deep sea search vessel "Van Gogh" dispatched by the United States was withdrawn. Mr. Iwaya said, "It's quite damaging."

Iwaya: Recovered pieces may come from missing jet
07 May 2019 NHKworld

"Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya has revealed that officials may have found pieces of a missing Japanese Air Self-Defense Force F-35 fighter jet....

...Iwaya told reporters on Tuesday that what appear to be pieces of the cockpit and flight recorder were found on May 3 or later on the seabed near the supposed crash site.... Iwaya said officials are checking whether the pieces that were retrieved came from the missing plane. He added that the flight recorder's data storage unit has not been found. Without it, it will be difficult to determine what happened to the plane. The defense minister said the government will continue to search for the missing pilot and plane."

Source: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190507_27/

Japan Recovers Parts of Crashed F-35A‘s Flight Data Recorder
08 May 2019 Franz-Stefan Gady

"Part of the flight data recorder was recovered “on or after May 3,” according to Japan’s defense minister.

Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said on 7 May that a search team has recovered parts of the flight data recorder of a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) fifth-generation Lockheed Martin Lightning II F-35A fighter jet that crashed off northern Japan almost a month ago.

Part of the flight data recorder was recovered “on or after May 3”, Iwaya said. “The Defense Ministry is studying (the parts), but at this point, the all-important memory (of the flight data recorder) has not been recovered.”

Iwaya also noted that the retrieved part of the flight data recorder was heavily damaged. As a result, it is unlikely to help determine the cause of the crash, which remains unknown. Notably, the exact discovery location is being kept secret for security reasons...."

Source: https://thediplomat.com/2019/05/japan-r ... -recorder/

TOKYO -- The U.S Navy said Thursday it has suspended its search for a Japanese air force F-35A stealth fighter that crashed off Japan's coast last month, after the allies scrambled to locate the aircraft to protect its military secrets.

The pilot is still missing, and Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Japan will continue its search. The Navy said in a statement that it was withdrawing after a salvage vehicle, CURV 21, found debris from the aircraft.

From April 9 to April 17, the U.S. search covered more than 5,000 square nautical miles (17,150 square kilometers) before deploying the CURV 21 remotely operated vehicle, which is capable of salvage operations at a depth of up to 20,000 feet (6,000 meters).

Iwaya told the upper house Diplomatic and Defense Affairs Committee that the U.S. salvage vehicle recovered parts of a flight data recorder, but the flight data is missing. A joint effort using sonar by the Japanese deep undersea vehicle Kaimei also located and recovered parts of a canopy and other equipment, he said.

Iwaya said the Kaimei has also withdrawn, but the surface and underwater search is continuing with the participation of Japanese Air Self-Defense Force vessels as well as a private salvage boat.

"We will continue our search and recovery for the pilot and the aircraft that are still missing, while doing our utmost to determine the cause," he said.

mixelflick wrote:Something sounds fishy here...

The US and Japan haven't found most of the aircraft... so they're giving up? That's like losing your kids, looking for a few hours and giving up, calling it a day.

Makes no sense..

Gamera wrote:Recently recovered debris included landing gear tire.