Miloch wrote in
:

more at
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...s-looking-for-
japans-crashed-f-35-fighter-that-remains-largely-unrecovered

The U.S. Navy says it has concluded its support of search and recovery
efforts related to a Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-35A Joint Strike
Fighter that crashed off the coast of that country last month. The
Japanese are continuing to look for parts of the plane, including its
flight data recorder, as well as the pilot, who remains missing.

The Navy's 7th Fleet made the announcement on May 8, 2019. At that
time, the service's only assets aid in the search and recovery
operation were a salvage team on board a chartered deep sea
construction vessel, Ultra Deep Solutions' Van Gogh. Between Apr. 9,
2019, when the F-35A first went missing, and Apr. 17, 2019, the
Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Stethem and a pair of P-8A Poseidon
maritime patrol aircraft had also contributed to the search efforts,
collectively covering a total area of more than 5,000 square nautical
miles. A U.S. Air Force U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane had also conducted
at least one sortie over the area and it is not clear if that service
is still assisting with the search and recovery missions.

The salvage team on Van Gogh had deployed the Cable-controlled
Undersea Recovery Vehicle 21, or CURV-21, a remotely operated vehicle,
to survey the seabed near where searchers had already found debris.
This is a 6,400-pound system that can operate at depths up to 20,000
deep. It has its own sonar to help detect objects of interest and
still and full motion video cameras to gather imagery. Operators can
equip it with various tool and grabbing arms as required to actually
manipulate or recover objects it finds. The Navy had also deployed the
CURV-21 in 2017 to help search for the submarine ARA San Juan after
its tragic accident.

The naval salvage unit had also brought a Towed Pinger Locator 25, or
TPL-25. Dragged behind a ship, this system can reportedly detect pings
from certain emergency systems on aircraft at depths of up to 25,000
feet. The CURV-21 would have been able to further investigate any
signals the TPL-25 picked up.

----

Though Japanese and American officials have downplayed the concerns,
the downed F-35A remains a potential security risk. Joint Strike
Fighters are made with classified materials and sensitive
manufacturing science. Even small parts could just offer valuable
industrial intelligence.

There is a possibility that other foreign actors, such as Russia or
China, could seek to locate the crash site or related debris fields
and retrieve portions of the stealth fighter, which could offer
valuable intelligence. Russia just recently added to its already
particularly extensive fleet of special projects submarines capable of
deep-sea work, including the possible ability to deploy their own
manned and unmanned deeper-diving submersibles.

Debris has already come to the surface, including the aircraft's tail,
too. As time goes on, currents could take that very far from the
initial crash site. This could all complicate any decision to declare
an end to the search and recovery efforts without securing the
majority of the plane. Japanese authorities have not yet given any
firm date for when the mission will end.

The U.S. Navy, however, has clearly decided that its services are no
longer required.


If they can find something as small as Mercury capsule
with 1990's technology, well........




Liberty Bell 7 capsule raised from ocean floor
July 20, 1999

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Almost 38 years to the
day since it sank, the Liberty Bell space capsule
is now above water, according to a dispatch from
a reporter aboard its recovery ship.

The Mercury capsule, flown by astronaut Gus Grissom
for 15 minutes in space on July 21, 1961, was hoisted
to the surface at 2:15 a.m. Tuesday from the bottom
of the Atlantic Ocean. It was found at a depth of
more than 15,000 feet -- 3,000 feet deeper than the
wreck of the Titanic.
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9907/2...om.capsule.01/