Failed Carrier Launch Left F-35B Subject of Hurried Recovery to Maintain Tech Secrecy

The United Kingdom Ministry of Defense recovered the wreckage of a Royal Air Force F-35B Joint Strike Fighter that crashed into the Mediterranean sea after an anemic takeoff from HMS Queen Elizabeth in November 2021. The remains have been the subject of much ministry angst, fearing peer country intervention and salvage in the region that could reveal proprietary, secret technical details of the 5th generation lynchpin of western air fighters.

The U.S. and Italian Navies sent assistance in scouting the wreck and protecting the salvage operation, eventually culminating in a successful recovery of the sensitive equipment aboard the fighter. The Ministry of Defense told publications that it had taken 2 weeks to locate the wreck, with another week to bring it safely to the surface intact. 

The Royal Air Force fighter of the 617th Squadron's Dambusters fell into the sea as the pilot ejected to safety during an aborted takeoff. The aircraft slowly traversed the carrier's ski ramp before falling leisurely downward, the pilot attempting to abort the takeoff when it was apparent he did not have sufficient power to become airborne. One preliminary report on the cause placed the blame on an engine intake guard being forgotten and ingested into the engines, but no official cause has been released. The taciturn British MoD would obviously prefer the blame lies with lackadaisical procedure adherence, and not a greater technical issue in their expensive new fighters. Absent a grounding of the F-35B fleet in the UK, some say, the likeliest cause is simple human error. The MoD has evidently been unhappy with the news leak, even going so far as arresting a seaman who shared a cell phone video of the incident online. 

FMI: www.royalnavy.mod.uk