China, Russia may be keen to find missing F-35A: report

April 10, 2019

Washington--U.S. military experts worry that China and Russia may be interested in salvaging a missing Japanese Air Self-Defense Force F-35A fighter jet, U.S. news website Business Insider reported Tuesday.

The Lockheed Martin stealth fighter went missing on Tuesday over the Pacific Ocean about 135 kilometers east of the ASDF's Misawa base in Aomori Prefecture, northern Japan. Japan's Defense Ministry concluded Wednesday local time that the fighter has crashed into the ocean, after the discovery of wreckage from its tails.

"There is no price too high in this world for China and Russia to pay to get Japan's missing F-35, if they can. Big Deal," Tom Moore, a U.S. expert on weapons proliferation, said on Twitter.

"Bottom line is that it would not be good" for the future of U.S. air power if Japan or the United States does not recover the jet quickly, retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula was quoted as saying in the report.

Experts say that if Russia and China find or salvage the missing jet, "they could seriously undermine the next several decades of U.S. air power," the report warned.

Referring to the possibility that the United States, China and Russia will compete to salvage the missing jet, Tyler Rogoway, editor of the military website War Zone, tweeted, "We are probably about to see one of the biggest underwater espionage and counterespionage ops since the Cold War." Jiji Press