Britain is racing to find the wreckage of a Royal Navy F-35 jet which crashed in international waters amid fears that Turkey will seek to salvage highly classified fragments of the aircraft, defence analysts have told The National.
The skin of the £100m jet would be considered a huge prize as it could allow rivals to replicate its stealth capabilities, or give them an increased ability to shoot them down.
British and Nato warships are assembling to protect the Eastern Mediterranean crash site after the advanced fighter went down as it took off from the flagship aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth on Wednesday.
UK officials said the Ministry of Defence was moving swiftly to recover the fighter.
It is the first time that an F-35 has come down in accessible international waters. The pilot safely ejected and was returned to the ship.
As well as Turkey, Russia is understood to be keen to scour the sea, with even a fragment of the aircraft’s outer skin considered extremely useful.
The latest naval tracking data shows a considerable amount of warship activity south of Crete, with a British Type-45 destroyer on station alongside a specialist tug.
Warships from Spain and Germany are also in the area, and a Norwegian construction support vessel is heading into the waters that could potentially be used to lift the 15-tonne aircraft.
The HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier is near Sicily, 900km away.
Defence sources have indicated that Turkey is “extremely keen” to find parts, particularly after the US denied sales of the fighter jet to Ankara. Any technology recovered could be used by Turkey’s burgeoning defence industry to develop its own advanced aircraft.
“Turkey has been excluded from the F-35 programme, so I'm sure they’d love to have some debris for their own domestic aerospace industry,” said Gareth Jennings, aviation editor for Janes Defence Weekly. “I'm also sure they would love to find out some of the technical secrets of the F-35. Both the British government and the Americans will be very keen that this aircraft is recovered.”
The UK MoD is understood to be worried about the Russians, who have a naval base in Tartus, Syria, more than a day’s sail away. There is also a possibility that civilian ships could recover debris and sell it on to foreign powers, including China.
“This is a concern,” said a military source. “The Lightnings [F-35s] have modern electronic scanned array radar, an electro-optical sensor and night vision equipment. If you can discover how that works you can work out how close the jet has to come to its target to see things.”
He added that the aircraft’s flight recorders would reveal highly classified performance information on the F-35. “There's plenty of actors in that region who would love to get their hands on this aircraft.”
The military will be hoping that measures introduced to protect the F-35 from reverse engineering -because it was always intended as an export product — will be enough to prevent its secrets being revealed.
But even a scrap of it could prove useful, according to Dr Justin Bronk, air power expert at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) think tank.
“One of the big innovations on F-35 is its radar absorbing protein which is very resilient and is a huge advance,” he said. “They will also want to recover the hardware in terms of sensors, radar, emitters, targeting system and lenses.
“I'm sure Russia would love to get its hand on this. The US and British will certainly be keen to get the crash area secured and the recovery done as soon as they can. If they can't raise it, then they’ll probably destroy it in place.”
Tim Ripley, another aviation expert from Janes, said small paint samples from the aircraft skins would allow scientists to find out what the composites are made from. “Once they have those, then they can test their own systems against those systems to find out how better to detect the aircraft,” he said.
The British astute hunter-killer submarine accompanying the carrier, and any American or other Nato submarines in the vicinity, are also likely to head to the site to protect the fighter. The Russians have submarines stationed at Tartus.
The waters south of Crete are about 2,000 metres deep, putting them beyond divers, but easily within range of the US Navy’s deep submergence vehicles that can go to 6,000m.
The recovery effort is likely to take weeks and could be hampered by poor weather.
The Navy will want to establish the cause of the crash of the £100 million ($134.5m) aircraft. Taking off from an aircraft carrier is always challenging, with engine failure the likely cause, either because of a technical problem, bird strike or pilot error.
It is the third time a F-35 has crashed in the last three years.
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
If you go:
The flights: Etihad, Emirates, British Airways and Virgin all fly from the UAE to London from Dh2,700 return, including taxes
The tours: The Tour for Muggles usually runs several times a day, lasts about two-and-a-half hours and costs £14 (Dh67)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is on now at the Palace Theatre. Tickets need booking significantly in advance
Entrance to the Harry Potter exhibition at the House of MinaLima is free
The hotel: The grand, 1909-built Strand Palace Hotel is in a handy location near the Theatre District and several of the key Harry Potter filming and inspiration sites. The family rooms are spacious, with sofa beds that can accommodate children, and wooden shutters that keep out the light at night. Rooms cost from £170 (Dh808).
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THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
THREE
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
The specs: 2018 Ford Mustang GT
Price, base / as tested: Dh204,750 / Dh241,500
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Gearbox: 10-speed automatic
Power: 460hp @ 7,000rpm
Torque: 569Nm @ 4,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.3L / 100km
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
more from Janine di Giovanni
Brief scores:
Pakistan (1st innings) 181: Babar 71; Olivier 6-37
South Africa (1st innings) 223: Bavuma 53; Amir 4-62
Pakistan (2nd innings) 190: Masood 65, Imam 57; Olivier 5-59
If%20you%20go
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Honeymoonish
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