94Ha ViewpointAn F-35B fighter jet on board the British Navy’s “Prince of Wales” aircraft carrier recently encountered bad weather while flying about 100 nautical miles off the coast of Kerala in southern India. It was unable to return to the aircraft carrier and was forced to land at Trivandrum International Airport in southern India and has been stranded ever since. This rare incident has attracted great attention from the media of both countries.
According to the Times of India on June 25, the F-35B fighter jet initially made an emergency landing due to lack of fuel, and was later found to have a hydraulic system failure. Although the British Navy urgently sent a technical team to Trivandrum Airport for repairs, the fighter jet has not been able to fly normally so far. British military officials said that if the ground repair attempt fails, the aircraft may need to be disassembled and airlifted back to the aircraft carrier or the United Kingdom by military transport aircraft.
At present, the Indian government has instructed the Central Industrial Security Force (a military branch responsible for guarding critical infrastructure) to guard the fighter jet around the clock. Indian media said that because India is currently in the monsoon season, the Indian government had proposed to move the fighter jet parked in the open air to a hangar, but the British Navy rejected the Indian proposal. New Delhi TV quoted anonymous security sources as saying that the British Navy reportedly refused to move the fighter jet to the hangar because it did not want Indians or third parties to take a closer look at its “protected technology.” At present, the fighter jet has been stranded at Trivandrum Airport for more than 10 days, and it is unclear how long it will stay in the future. Various speculations have also appeared on social media in Britain and India.
According to the British Independent, an F-35B fighter jet is worth more than $100 million and is the vertical take-off and landing version of the F-35 fighter family. It is worth noting that in March this year, US President Trump proposed to sell F-35 fighter jets to India.
