{"id":14806,"date":"2019-04-22T16:06:25","date_gmt":"2019-04-22T16:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/04\/22\/china-wont-find-lost-f-35-stealth-fighter-first-says-pentagon\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:18:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:18:26","slug":"china-wont-find-lost-f-35-stealth-fighter-first-says-pentagon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/04\/22\/china-wont-find-lost-f-35-stealth-fighter-first-says-pentagon\/","title":{"rendered":"China won\u2019t find lost F-35 stealth fighter first, says Pentagon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/2019\/01\/15\/japan-surges-new-weapons-military-roles-to-meet-chinas-rise\/\" target=\"_blank\">U.S. and Japanese militaries<\/a> are dismissing the possibility that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2019\/04\/09\/a-japanese-f-35a-fighter-jet-is-missing-remaining-12-are-grounded\/\" target=\"_blank\">China will find Japan\u2019s missing F-35A<\/a> Lightning II aircraft before their own search parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Japanese have the lead there, and we\u2019re working very collaboratively with them,&#8221; acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Friday. &#8220;And we\u2019ve got a capability if what they have doesn\u2019t prove to be sufficient.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When asked whether he was concerned China could get to the crash site first, Shanahan said: \u201cNo, I\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The F-35, which belonged to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/asia-pacific\/2019\/04\/12\/f-35a-crash-japans-defense-minister-addresses-security-concerns-procurement-plans\/\" target=_blank>Japan Air Self-Defense Force<\/a>, crashed in the Pacific Ocean off northern Japan on April 9. The pilot was flying with three other F-35s when he lost contact and disappeared from radar roughly 85 miles east of Misawa Air Base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not long after the F-35 went missing, there was speculation about whether Chinese or Russian assets were searching for the secretive aircraft and whether they could beat the U.S. and Japan to the crash site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe don\u2019t have such possibility, absolutely no,\u201d Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said through an interpreter during a visit with his U.S. counterpart. \u201cWe are conducting surveillance and warning activities so we can identify and find the missing aircraft.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/asia-pacific\/2019\/04\/12\/f-35a-crash-japans-defense-minister-addresses-security-concerns-procurement-plans\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"160\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_19100102887915.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">F-35A crash: Japan\u2019s defense minister addresses security concerns, procurement plans<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Japan&#039;s defense minister was asked about the possibility of China or Russia attempting to salvage the crashed F-35 from the seafloor, among other issues related to the Joint Strike Fighter.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The area in which the F-35A crashed is estimated to be about 5,000 feet deep. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force has deployed a rescue submarine, among other vessels, to search the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is a very important aircraft, so we would like to locate the aircraft as soon as we can and salvage it,\u201d Iwaya said Friday. \u201cJapan will lead the investigation, but we\u2019re hoping and also it is indispensable to have the support of the U.S. So while we do that, we would like to find the root cause of the accident.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">China and Russia are each developing rival aircraft to the F-35. Unveiling secrets of the fifth-generation stealth fighter could potentially be a windfall for the U.S. military\u2019s peer adversaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Appropriating the technology of lost military assets isn\u2019t something out of the realm of possibility, as pointed out by <a href=\"https:\/\/taskandpurpose.com\/us-china-missing-f-35\" target=\"_blank\">Task &amp; Purpose<\/a>. In the early 1970s, the CIA spent hundreds of millions of dollars attempting to recover a sunken Soviet submarine that the Kremlin had failed to rescue in 1968, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cia.gov\/library\/readingroom\/docs\/DOC_0000078940.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">declassified CIA documents<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The sub broke apart during the recovery operation, which took place at a depth of 16,000 feet, but the U.S. still managed to recover two nuclear-tipped torpedoes and some submarine manuals without the Soviets noticing, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/parallels\/2017\/09\/18\/549535352\/how-the-cia-found-a-soviet-sub-without-the-soviets-knowing\" target=_blank>NPR reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pentagon spokesman Charles Summers Jr. said Thursday that the primary U.S. search effort has ended, \u201chowever, we will continue to coordinate with our Japanese partners on efforts to locate and recover the missing aircraft.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2966\" height=\"1668\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_19100090880758.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9029\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_19100090880758.jpg.jpg 2966w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_19100090880758.jpg.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_19100090880758.jpg.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_19100090880758.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_19100090880758.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,864 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_19100090880758.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1152 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2966px) 100vw, 2966px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Japan Coast Guard&#8217;s vessel and U.S. military plane search for a Japanese fighter jet, in the waters off Aomori, northern Japan, Wednesday, April 10, 2019. The Japanese air force F-35 stealth fighter crashed into the Pacific Ocean during a night training flight and parts of the jet were recovered, the defense ministry said Wednesday. (Kyodo News via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The incident has not shaken the American and Japanese militaries\u2019 faith in the F-35 program, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe U.S., and all F-35 partners, remain fully committed to protecting all F-35 capabilities and technology,&#8221; Summers added. &#8220;Our thoughts continue to be with the family, friends and colleagues of the missing pilot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. Navy destroyer Stethem and several P-8A Poseidon aircraft took part in the search alongside Japan Self-Defense Forces, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/asia-pacific\/2019\/04\/12\/f-35a-crash-japans-defense-minister-addresses-security-concerns-procurement-plans\/\" target=_blank>Defense News<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some wreckage from the F-35 was found at sea; however, the pilot was not recovered and the bulk of the aircraft is still missing beneath the waves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The cause of the crash is unknown. It is the second crash of an F-35. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2018\/09\/28\/an-f-35b-has-crashed-near-marine-corps-air-station-beaufort\/\" target=_blank>U.S. Marine Corps lost an F-35B in South Carolina<\/a> near Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. The pilot safely ejected during that incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe department has full faith and confidence in the F-35 program,&#8221; Summers said. \u201cAll 276 U.S. F-35s continue to fly, including U.S. Air Force F-35As in the U.S. [Central Command] area of responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Not long after the F-35 went missing, pundits speculated whether Chinese or Russian assets were seeking out the secretive aircraft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":28315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,45,160,11,36,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3374],"class_list":["post-14806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-asia-pacific","category-daily-news-roundup","category-global","category-newsletters","category-pentagon"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"OMISSDX7O5HBJKJ3KEPKQJZHAI","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2019\/04\/22\/china-wont-find-lost-f-35-stealth-fighter-first-says-pentagon\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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