F-35C fighter jet recovered from South China Sea

PO1 Tony Holland
..."The single-engine stealth fighter impacted the flight deck of the 100,00-tonne aircraft carrier and then fell into the sea, the Navy said. The pilot was ejected to safety and rescued in a helicopter.

The South China Sea, home to vital shipping lanes, has been a geopolitical flashpoint for years, with several countries claiming ownership of its small islands and reefs and with it, access to its resources.

China has taken increasingly forceful steps to assert its claim of the territory, refusing to recognise a 2016 international tribunal ruling saying there was no evidence that China had historically exercised exclusive control over the waters."...