The United Kingdom, the United States and Italy have raised the sunken fifth-generation fighter F-35 Lightning II from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, which in November fell there after a crash from the British aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth, The Drive reports.
The publication notes that Russia could be interested in accessing the fragments of the lost aircraft, so it was important to retrieve its fragments as early as possible. “Successfully locating the aircraft wreckage and retrieving them was a top priority given the security risks that would arise if any part of the aircraft fell into the hands of a less friendly country, such as Russia,” the American publication writes.
In total, it took two weeks to find the fragments of the F-35 Lightning II, and another one to retrieve them. The Drive notes that human error was the most likely reason for the loss of the $ 100 million aircraft.
In November, a military expert Dmitry Boltenkov told Izvestia that the Russian side was particularly interested in the elements in the wreckage of a fifth-generation British fighter with a short take-off and vertical landing F-35B Lightning II, which could represent the recognition unit of the friend-or-foe system. and weapon control equipment.
In the same month, the British tabloid Daily Mirror wrote that the Royal Navy (Navy) of Great Britain participated in a “race against the Russians” for the F-35B Lightning II aircraft recently lost in the Mediterranean.
F-35B Lightning II fighter of the Royal Navy of Great Britain sank on the morning of November 17 in the Mediterranean Sea. The pilot managed to eject and was taken to the British aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth. The incident occurred during a scheduled flight.
