According to the latest reports, an F-16 fighter jet of the US military stationed in South Korea crashed in the waters west of South Korea on the morning of December 11, and the pilot successfully escaped. The US military stationed in South Korea said afterwards that the pilot had received assistance from the South Korean side and was in good health. According to the results of the investigation released by the South Korean side, the accident was caused by the rubber seal in the engine compartment falling into the engine. The investigation revealed that the rubber seals came off and fell into the engine, causing damage to some parts of the engine, which eventually caused the plane to stall and crash. At the same time, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) was also conducting daily live-fire Xi exercises in the sea area at that time.
According to information released by the Dalian Maritime Safety Bureau, the PLA's Xi time was from 10 a.m. on the 11th to around 12 o'clock on the 15th. Interestingly, the time of the crash of the US fighter plane almost coincided with the PLA exercise Xi. This is obviously unlikely to be just a coincidence. We all know that not only the United States, but even Japan have been closely observing the PLA's maritime exercises, trying to get close to the Xi areas of our country's exercises in order to get a glimpse of the PLA's real combat strength. Therefore, the crash of the F-16 fighter plane of the US military stationed in South Korea in the Yellow Sea is probably because they have a certain grasp of the PLA dynamics in advance and want to fly close to the PLA Xi exercise area to carry out military missions.
However, it eventually led to the crash. Fortunately, the pilot managed to escape and was sent to Gunsan Air Base on the west coast of South Korea. The base is located on the west coast of South Korea, about 8 kilometers from Gunsan City, about 350 kilometers from Seoul, and across the Yellow Sea from China. The fact that F-16 fighter jets, which take off from Gunsan Air Base in South Korea, can reach North Korea in about 15 minutes makes the base a lot of attention. Compared to the Chinese city of Weihai, which is only 400 kilometers away, many Chinese cities are within range of F-16 fighter jets.
Therefore, the intention of the US military to deploy F-16 fighter jets at the military base is by no means just to deter North Korea. The Pentagon and the U.S. Forces Korea command see the Gunsan base as the "tip of the spear." Gunsan Air Base is home to the U.S. Air Force's 8th Fighter Wing, which has 2,650 Air Force officers and is equipped with 36 F-16 fighter jets and 12 Gray Eagle drones. When the Gray Eagle drone was deployed at South Korea's Gunsan Air Base, it was widely suspected that this was one of the signals that the U.S. military was preparing to decapitate North Korea. In this area, not only the crash of the F-16 fighter took place.
The U.S. military in Japan also suffered a crash when the crashed fighter plane was an Osprey transport plane, and the pilot was also killed in the accident. In response, the Pentagon announced the grounding of its V22 Osprey fleet. In addition to these incidents, there was also a P-8A "Poseidon" maritime patrol aircraft belonging to the US Navy, which crashed directly into the sea due to some malfunctions. In South Korea, an F-16 fighter jet of the US military stationed in South Korea crashed in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, also purchased by South Korea from the United States.
In addition, an F-4E fighter jet of the ROK Air Force crashed on August 12, 2022, and another F-5E fighter jet crashed on January 11, 2022, both of which were also purchased by South Korea from the United States. Coupled with the crash of an F-16 fighter jet purchased by Saudi Arabia from the United States on December 8, this series of events raises doubts about the major safety risks of many of the warplanes currently in production. The Pentagon has long received warnings about the low logistics support rate of the US military fleet, but this issue has not received enough attention.
Whenever the military budget is introduced, various US departments will compete fiercely, resulting in the neglect of logistical support needs. In addition, a batch of F-16 fighters stationed in South Korea has been in service for about 30 years, and machine failures are not uncommon. Coupled with the frequent military Xi conducted by the US military in South Korea and Japan, the possibility of fighter failures is even greater. The United States also frequently sends planes to reconnoiter China's military activities in the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the western Pacific. As a result, the long service of the fighters, the lack of logistics and the frequent use of the fighters create the risk of fighter breakdowns.
The U.S. Air Force said the cause of the F-16 fighter's accident may not have been aging or poor maintenance of parts, but that the parts themselves were defective. This also exposes the inefficiency of the United States in the logistics support of fighter jets. With frequent crashes of U.S. warplanes around the world, it will trigger a chain reaction that will affect the trust of U.S. allies in U.S. equipment and could weaken the morale of U.S. soldiers. According to the current US strategy toward China, more US warplanes may crash in the future. Recently, at the Reagan Defense Forum, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin openly stated that the United States has seen China as its most powerful enemy.
Austin emphasized that China longs for the United States to suffer defeat abroad and wants the United States to happen at home in order to replace the United States as the world's dominant power. Therefore, the United States considers China to be more dangerous than Russia. In the future, the US military will continue to strengthen its strategic blockade of China and regard neighboring countries such as South Korea, Japan, and the Philippines as important strategic bases. The United States will also strengthen defense cooperation with these countries and hold more military Xi exercises against China. If the military confrontation with China is not relaxed, there may be more accidents in which warplanes and warships break down for some reason, resulting in the destruction of planes (ships) and the loss of people.
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