"General Mille, did you lose another F-35?"
Posted on 09/17/2023 8:23:54 PM PDT by Ultra Sonic 007
U.S. military officials are searching for a missing F-35 jet after a "mishap" caused its pilot to eject on Sunday afternoon.
Joint Base Charleston said on Facebook that the aircraft was a Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II belonging to Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. The pilot ejected safely and was transported to a local medical center.
The base is working with Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort to help locate the missing aircraft. Emergency response teams have been deployed to find the jet.
"Based on the jet’s last-known position and in coordination with the FAA, we are focusing our attention north of JB Charleston, around Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion," Joint Base Charleston said in a statement on Facebook.
"The public is asked to cooperate with military and civilian authorities as the effort continues," the base added.
Anyone with information about the jet's whereabouts is urged to contact JB Charleston Base Defense Operations Center at 843-963-3600.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Given that there are hundreds of flights a day, many with full armaments, it’s surprising we don’t have more crashes, so no, not incompetent.
On average, in my lifetime, there’s been about a one fighter jet mishap, with the loss of the aircraft, and often that of the pilot and possibly people on the ground, a month. Sometimes it’s worse, with the loss of a cargo plane, tanker, or bomber, as that usually kills more.
I was in the Air Force for 22 years, and we’ve had some doozies in my time. Statistically, the military skies are actually safer since I retired.
Not that any of that was my fault!
Auto pilot could take it anywhere the fuel on board would allow... again, any nukes on board?
The CCP probably triggered the malware embedded in some Chinese-made component and ejected the pilot, then flew it remotely to a secret base in some god-forsaken communist hellhole….like Massachusetts or New York.
{{{snort}}} You forgot Californicatia and the far left coast.
It’s my understanding they don’t know where the plane crashed. Am I wrong?
LOL...when I was a kid, our phone prefix was BR-5. Honestly. Now how did you know that?
F-35B is not nuclear certified. The Marines have no nuclear capability anymore.
The stealthy part works. Nobody can find it.
It is not that big a loss. The F-35 jet only costs about $200 million each.
Thanks - nice to have that out of the way...
If he wanted to take the plane (or weapons) somewhere like Cuba, it would seem likely he would stay with the aircraft.
Could be the pilot couldn’t regain control of the aircraft or was having a medical emergency that limited his abilities (vertigo, loss of vision, etc) and ejected, but you would think that would be an absolute last resort.
It also seems there were 2 F-35s, with 1 landing and 1 lost. Why would the 2nd plane leave his wingman? Odd indeed. There is obviously more to the story than they are revealing.
Scratch another $80,000,000.00....oh well.
If that was a B version, it could have gone down in VTOL mode and be sitting behind a barn.
Either more to the story or a whole lot of incompetence...
You just outed yourself, Junior.
"General Mille, did you lose another F-35?"
From everything I read about the B2 stealth bomber, they’re designed to be stealthy once leveled out for a flight in the landing gears, retracted, canopy is closed, etc.
You would think if the pilot ejected, and the loss of the canopy, that would change the radar signature of the plane and they would be less stealthy and easier to possibly track. Somethings seems fishy here.
https://www.historynet.com/f-106-the-cornfield-bomber/
Pilot 2 wouldn't follow Aircraft 1 and would instead circle Parachutist 1 as Parachutist 1 descended, in order to report the exact location to Air Traffic Control to affect any rescue operation, ranging from "send a cab" to "send an ambulance" or "launch a medi-vac flight".
Idiots - everyone knows they should have put an Apple AirTag on it before it was considered ready for flight.
Aren’t the Navy ones 300 mil ?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.