Chinese Specialist Vessel Helped U.S. Pull Crashed F-35 From South China Sea: Reports

Days after the U.S. Navy declared it managed to salvage the wreck of the F-35C fighter jet that plunged into the South China Sea a month ago, reports have emerged that the Navy was aided by a Chinese-made ship for the mission.

The U.S. Seventh Fleet said in a statement that the jet was fished out using lift lines from the crane of the Diving Support Construction Vessel (DSCV) Picasso.

Picasso, though owned by a Singapore-based firm, was built by China Merchants Heavy Industries (CMHI), reported South China Morning Post, quoting local Chinese media. CMHI is one of the nation's top three state-owned shipbuilders.

The U.S. Seventh Fleet said it took the team 37 days to recover the wreckage from 12,400 feet below the surface. The jet will now be delivered to a nearby military installation to aid in the ongoing investigation. The salvage team included members of the US 7th Fleet Task Force 75 and the Naval Sea Systems Command's Supervisor of Salvage and Diving.

The mission was deemed very significant as the U.S. doesn't want its competitors, especially China, laying their hands on the sensitive components of the highly advanced jet. The Chinese had then responded that they had no interest in the aircraft.

However, soon after reports surfaced that Chinese salvage ships were also heading toward the location of the sunken jet, something the U.S. Navy did not confirm.

As for Picasso, it is one of the most advanced DSCV equipped with an advanced remotely operated vehicle "Curv-21," that can dive to more than 3,000 meters.

The report also quoted Chinese military analyst Song Zhongping who vouched for the authority of China in shipbuilding, particularly in specialist vessels. He told South China Morning Post that it was "no surprise that ships made in the country were involved in the operation."

"This shows the need for cooperation between the US and China," he added.

But, this isn't the first time that the Chinese-made DSCVs are being used earlier to recover crashed jets from the seafloor. In 2019, Japan had used a Chinese-made DSCV Van Gogh to retrieve an F-35A belonging to the Japan Air Self-Defence Force from the Pacific Ocean. Reports added that the Van Gogh too was made by CMHI.

Van Gogh and Picasso are among the five Chinese-made vessels operated by the Singapore-based deep-diving heavy construction vessel operator Ultra Deep Solutions.