CCP warfare machine went into overdrive after US Stealth Fighter F-35C accident

|HT|

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) information warfare machine went into overdrive after US Stealth Fighter F-35C had a landing mishap on January 24 during flight operations on Supercarrier Carl Vinson while patrolling South China Sea. The USS Carl Vinson along with USS Abraham Lincoln and two landing ships are involved in freedom of navigation operations with the motive of deterring Chinese PLA from attacking Taiwan by taking advantage of US-Russia crisis over Ukraine. Several analysts with so-called think tanks were quoted in the propaganda media as saying that the F-35C accident exposed the exhaustion of the US military, which has been flaunting its prowess against China at the cost of the physical and mental health of its troops and high technical risks. While the pilot of the crashed F-35C was recovered safely, the US Navy is involved in salvaging operation of the stealth fighter lest the Chinese reach there first and copy the latest war fighting technology.

While the Chinese media may pass caustic comments on US aircraft carrier operations, fact is that fighter accidents onboard aircraft carriers are part and parcel of flight operations. The cold facts are that US Navy has been operating aircraft carriers for 100 years with some 70-odd carriers serving the nation and another three under construction. Maritime aviation is the most complex part of war fighting with the fighter pilot having only 500 feet of flight deck to land and take off from the aircraft carrier. Apart from handling the aircraft, the pilot must factor in the pitch and roll of the megaship apart from blustery winds, rain, and darkness. The US Navy has not only operated these floating islands for ages but has used them successfully to wage war and project power all over the world. The Chinese military and propaganda media have often passed judgements on Indian military prowess without realising that India has been operating aircraft carriers since 1961 and has an amazing record of maritime aviation including 1971 blockading of Karachi harbour. Many an armchair analysts have argued that carrier-based aviation is prohibitively expensive and outdated due to existence of long distance ballistic missiles. They recommend that shore-based fighters could do the same job as the carrier with mid-air refueling option giving the much-needed operational range. However, the Indian Navy found that the shore-based fighter pilots of the Indian Air Force found themselves disoriented on high seas without land in sight and used as a reference point. The Indian Navy’s sole aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya is currently under maintenance with the new aircraft carrier INS Vikrant expected to be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 75th year of Indian Independence.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)