ABOVE: The Super Hornet that sunk to the bottom of the Mediterranean was fitted with a substantial amount of classified equipment
The US Navy has successfully retrieved the F/A-18 Super Hornet which was lost overboard from the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman in July. The super carrier was on manoeuvres in the Mediterranean when the fighter-bomber was blown off the deck in unexpectedly bad weather on 8 July. A robust response by the US Sixth Fleet meant the aircraft was back on a US Navy ship by 3 August.
“The rapid response of the combined team allowed us to conduct recovery operations within twenty-seven days of the incident,” Lieutenant Commander Miguel Lewis, US Sixth Fleet salvage officer, said in a statement. It is believed that the Super Hornet is an E model, and was fitted with a lot of sophisticated equipment that the US Navy was keen to keep from falling into the hands of an unfriendly nation.
The fighter-bomber was located at a depth of 9,500ft by the Navy’s Salvage and Diving command by an underwater drone which attached lines, allowing the construction vessel Everest to pull it up to the surface. “The search and recovery took less than twenty-four hours, a true testament to the team’s dedication and capability,” the Navy said in the news release. The Super Hornet has been sent back to the USA.
Image: Boeing
