US Navy considers recovering dummy bombs from Great Barrier Reef

The U.S. Navy said it may try to recover unarmed bombs dropped by U.S. fighter jets into Australia's Great Barrier Reef park when a training exercise went awry. Two Harrier jets each dropped two inert practice bombs during a training exercise with the Australian military July 16, U.S. military officials said. "After being unable to expend their ordnance during a planned training mission and having insufficient fuel to reach their pre-designated jettison area, the pilots jettisoned the ordnance in an unarmed condition on 16 July," The Navy's 7th Fleet said in a statement issued during the weekend and updated Tuesday. The 7th Fleet said the ordnance, two filled with concrete and two filled with explosives, didn't pose a hazard to navigation or shipping. "The impacts on the environment are negligible," the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said in a statement, "they weren't armed and they were essentially inert ... . It was well away from any sensitive habitat." The 7th Fleet statement said a "high priority" for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority was working with the Australian Defense Department to identify options to recovery the ordnance to ensure it doesn't pose a risk to the park. The Australian and U.S. governments are reviewing the possibility of recovering the practice bombs, the statement said. "If the park authority and government agencies of Australia determine that they want them recovered, then we will coordinate with them on that recovery process," it said. An investigation into why the jets were low on fuel has begun, U.S. military officials said.