Technical Competition 400 Feet Under the Sea: PLA's Salvage Capability for Carrier-Based Aircraft Faces Test

On December 5 last year, the U.S. Navy quietly completed a relatively unnoticed but significant operation—salvaging the wreckage of an F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet and an MH-60R Seahawk helicopter from 400 feet (about 120 meters) deep in the South China Sea. These two aircraft crashed into the sea within just 30 minutes after taking off from the USS Nimitz on October 26, 2025.

This detail is easily overlooked, but the magazine "Naval Weapons," under China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, issued a rare warning in February this year—China's Navy currently lacks the underwater salvage capabilities at the level of the U.S. military. If the PLA's carrier-based aircraft were to crash in distant waters, there is a risk that the wreckage could be salvaged by adversaries first.

How Strong is the U.S. Military's Salvage Capability?

From publicly available information, the U.S. military's salvage operation utilized the USNS Salvor, a specialized salvage ship. This Safeguard-class salvage vessel has a maximum lifting capacity of 300 tons and is equipped with both 7.5-ton and 40-ton cranes, allowing for dynamic lifting operations in deep-sea environments.

A salvage depth of 400 feet may not sound very deep, but the actual operational difficulty is considerable. The underwater environment is complex, and precise equipment and extensive experience are required for wreckage location, lifting angle control, and avoiding secondary damage. The U.S. military also employed unmanned underwater systems carried by "vessels of opportunity" during this operation, indicating that even the U.S. military needs to mobilize various resources to complete the task.

More noteworthy is the speed of the operation. From the occurrence of the accident on October 26 to the arrival of the salvage ship on November 12, and then to the completion of the salvage on December 5, the entire cycle took about 40 days. This speed is relatively fast for a sensitive area like the South China Sea—consider that when a U.S. F-35C crashed in the South China Sea in 2022, the salvage depth reached 12,400 feet (about 3,780 meters), taking much longer.

Where Are the PLA's Shortcomings?

The concerns raised by "Naval Weapons" are not unfounded. According to publicly available information, the PLA Navy currently has a limited number of specialized salvage vessels, with significant gaps in tonnage and technical level compared to the U.S. military.

The U.S. military has four Safeguard-class salvage ships, along with several diving support vessels and deep-sea rescue submarines. In contrast, the PLA's deep-sea salvage capabilities mainly rely on a few modified rescue boats and some auxiliary vessels, with a need for improvement in specialization and equipment advancement.

More critically, there is a lack of practical experience. The U.S. military has executed numerous complex underwater salvage missions globally, from submarine rescues to aircraft wreck recovery, accumulating a wealth of data and operational procedures. The PLA has relatively few public records in this area, with insufficient practical testing.

In simple terms, salvage capability is not just about purchasing a few ships. It involves a complete system of underwater positioning technology, deep-sea operational equipment, lifting control systems, wreckage protection technology, and more, all of which require long-term investment and practical accumulation.

New Pressures from the Fujian Ship's Deployment to Distant Waters

Why did "Naval Weapons" issue a warning at this time? An important background is that the Fujian ship was officially commissioned last November and is expected to operate in the South China Sea and even the Western Pacific.

The Fujian ship is the PLA's first aircraft carrier to use an electromagnetic catapult system, which will allow for a much higher frequency of carrier-based aircraft takeoffs and landings compared to the Liaoning and Shandong carriers. An increase in takeoff and landing frequency means that the statistical base for accident probability is also rising. If a carrier-based aircraft were to crash in waters far from the mainland, whether the PLA can complete the salvage before adversaries intervene is a real issue.

The avionics systems, radar, and weapon interfaces on the J-15 and J-35 have high intelligence value for the U.S. military and Japan. If the wreckage falls into the hands of adversaries, it could not only leak technical parameters but also expose tactical weaknesses. This risk has occurred multiple times during the Cold War— the Soviet Union successfully salvaged U.S. aircraft that had crashed, obtaining valuable technical intelligence.

A Question Without an Answer

From a technical perspective, it is not impossible for the PLA to close this gap. China has made certain advancements in deep-sea technology, with the Jiaolong manned submersible and the Haidou unmanned submersible reaching world-class levels. The key lies in whether these technologies can be quickly transformed into practical military salvage equipment and form a complete operational system.

Another question worth considering is: Will the PLA deploy rapid response salvage forces in distant waters like the U.S. military? The U.S. military pre-positions salvage equipment at multiple global locations to ensure the quickest response to accidents. If the PLA aims to regularly deploy aircraft carriers in the second island chain or even farther, will it also need to establish a similar global salvage support network?

From the warning issued by "Naval Weapons," this question is already on the table. But the real answer may still require waiting for the PLA's next generation of salvage vessels to be commissioned and for more practical testing in distant waters.