The United States military is currently engaged in a frantic search for an F-35 fighter jet that went missing after a “mishap” forced the pilot to eject over South Carolina. The incident, which occurred on Sunday afternoon, has prompted emergency response teams to search for the advanced stealth aircraft.
According to social media posts from Joint Base Charleston, an air base in South Carolina, the pilot of the F-35B Lightning II jet ejected safely and was transported to a local hospital in stable condition.
Joint Base Charleston has called upon both the military and civilian communities to collaborate in the search for the missing F-35 jet. The air base is working closely with Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort to locate the aircraft, focusing on the region north of North Charleston around Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion, based on the aircraft’s last-known location.
Lockheed Martin Corp is the manufacturer of the F-35, a single-seat fighter aircraft widely used by military forces worldwide. The F-35B variant, involved in this incident, is known for its vertical take-off capabilities and stealth features, making it challenging to detect by radar.
The F-35 program is considered the most expensive U.S. weapons program ever, with projected costs of $400 billion for development and acquisition, along with an additional $1.2 trillion for operating and maintaining the fleet over a span of more than 60 years. The cost of each F-35 jet can exceed $160 million, depending on the variant.
This isn’t the first time an F-35 has encountered difficulties. In 2018, an F-35B version crashed in Beaufort County, South Carolina, due to a manufacturing defect in a fuel tube, according to a Government Accountability Office report. In the following year, a Japanese F-35A stealth fighter went down in the Pacific Ocean during an exercise, an incident that Japan attributed to pilot disorientation rather than technical problems.
The disappearance of the F-35 aircraft in the United States has generated online mockery, with memes and jokes circulating about the incident, including parody “missing jet” flyers on lamp posts and humorously altered movie posters.
South Carolina Republican Representative Nancy Mace expressed her disbelief on social media, asking how it was possible to lose an F-35 and questioning whether there should be tracking devices on such advanced military aircraft.
