naval aviation history that a stealth strike fighter has been deployed operationally on an aircraft carrier,” Lockheed Martin said. “This deployment marks the first time in U.S. The F-35C was the last of the three variants to become operational, doing so in only 2019.Ĭarl Vinson was the first of the US Navy’s 11 aircraft carriers to deploy with the F-35C when it left San Diego last August. The US Navy variant “features more robust landing gear to handle carrier takeoffs and landings, folding wings to fit on a crowded flight deck, larger wings, a slightly larger payload, and a slightly longer operating range,” according to the aircraft’s manufacturer, Lockheed Martin. More countries have orders in for the jet. Versions of the F-35 are also flown by US allies and partners, including Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands and Israel. The F-35A, flown by the Air Force, takes off and lands on conventional runways, and the F-35B, the Marine Corps version, is a short-takeoff vertical landing aircraft that can operate off the Navy’s amphibious assault ships. The crash is the first for an F-35C, the US Navy’s variant of the single-engine stealth fighter, designed for operations off aircraft carriers. Mark Langford, said Tuesday the impact to the Vinson’s flight deck was “superficial” and the warship and its air wing had resumed normal operations.Īs for the F-35, “the status of the recovery is in progress,” Langford said. The cause of what the statement called a “inflight mishap” is under investigation.Ī spokesman for the Navy’s 7th Fleet in Japan, Lt. The other three sailors were treated on the carrier and have been released. Three required evacuation to a medical facility in Manila, Philippines, where they are in stable condition, according to Pacific Fleet. Six others were injured on the deck of the carrier.
They safely ejected and were recovered by a military helicopter, Pacific Fleet said.
The pilot was conducting routine flight operations when the crash happened. The pilot of a US F-35 jet ejected as his jet crashed on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier in the South China Sea, injuring seven, the US Pacific Fleet said in a statement Monday.
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