Debris found in search for F-35 fighter jet that went missing after pilot ejected during 'mishap'

[Social Media]

A U.S. fighter jet’s stealth abilities appear to be working too well, as it took authorities hours to locate a debris field after an F-35 went missing when the pilot ejected because of a “mishap.”

 

The debris was discovered Monday evening about two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston, an air base in North Charleston, officials said, without providing further details.

 

The base had been working with Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort to "locate an F-35 that was involved in a mishap" Sunday afternoon.

The pilot was able to safely eject from the aircraft, an F-35B Lightning II jet, and was taken to a local medical center in stable condition, it said in a Facebook post around 5:35 p.m. ET.

The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing — the jet belongs to one of the unit's training squadrons — confirmed Sunday's "mishap" and that "the pilot had safely ejected from the aircraft."

“The mishap is currently under investigation.” Captain Joe Leitner, the spokesperson for the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, said. 

The jet was in autopilot mode when the pilot ejected from the aircraft, Jeremy Huggins, a spokesman at Joint Base Charleston, said. Authorities believed there was a possibility that it could have remained airborne for some time.

The FAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The circumstances that prompted the pilot to eject from the aircraft were not immediately clear.

Joint Base Charleston said in a statement that it coordinated with units and leaders in the Marines and Navy, as well as the FAA, Civil Air Patrol and local law enforcement across South Carolina. The base said searchers were using "both ground and air assets" in the effort.

 

FULL STORY

[billd766]

From the BBC World news site.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66850422

 

quote "The request led to mockery online and criticism from lawmakers.

 

Nancy Mace, a Republican congresswoman for South Carolina, asked on X, formerly Twitter: "How in the hell do you lose an F-35?

"How is there not a tracking device and we're asking the public to what, find a jet and turn it in?"

 

The aircraft is a stealth jet - meaning its airframe, sensors and systems are designed to operate undetected by enemy radar. 

 

My question is a simple one. Why would you put a tracking device on an aircraft which has been designed to be stealth?

 

It is supposed to operate undetected by enemy radar.. 

 

If you put a tracking device on it that is continuously transmitting, then it becomes stealthy no longer.

 

With modern technology, it would not take long to scan all the frequencies and find the tracking transmitter which renders the aircraft stealthy no longer, and in fact would make it easier to track and shoot down.

[Social Media]

 

[sirineou]

There goes $100 million 

[sirineou]

^^^^ 

So I google it and since the beginning of the F35 program, 10m0f them have crashed , which puts the cost at I trillion dollars. 

It costs $42,000 per hour to operate, Currently the US operates 450 F-35s

you do the math.

But universal health care? impossible too expansive.

 

[pacovl46]

49 minutes ago, billd766 said:

From the BBC World news site.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66850422

 

quote "The request led to mockery online and criticism from lawmakers.

 

Nancy Mace, a Republican congresswoman for South Carolina, asked on X, formerly Twitter: "How in the hell do you lose an F-35?

"How is there not a tracking device and we're asking the public to what, find a jet and turn it in?"

 

The aircraft is a stealth jet - meaning its airframe, sensors and systems are designed to operate undetected by enemy radar. 

 

My question is a simple one. Why would you put a tracking device on an aircraft which has been designed to be stealth?

 

It is supposed to operate undetected by enemy radar.. 

 

If you put a tracking device on it that is continuously transmitting, then it becomes stealthy no longer.

 

With modern technology, it would not take long to scan all the frequencies and find the tracking transmitter which renders the aircraft stealthy no longer, and in fact would make it easier to track and shoot down.

Well, they could install one that only activates/gets activated in an emergency situation, like for example when the ejector seat is used. 

[ignore it]

 

That's the problem with stealth airplanes.

You just can't find them.

[ThaiFelix]

59 minutes ago, sirineou said:

^^^^ 

So I google it and since the beginning of the F35 program, 10m0f them have crashed , which puts the cost at I trillion dollars. 

It costs $42,000 per hour to operate, Currently the US operates 450 F-35s

you do the math.

But universal health care? impossible too expansive.

 

Arent humans strange.

[John Drake]

6 hours ago, Social Media said:

“The mishap is currently under investigation.” Captain Joe Leitner, the spokesperson for the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, said.

I would hope so. I would also like the pilot identified. If at fault, they should be liable for the full 80 million. There should be sizable deductions from their salary from now until they die.

[topt]

According to the report I read the pilot set its automatic pilot before ejecting. Did he set it for a particular spot or to just fly on.........could it have crashed on buildings or a road?

[MrJ2U]

4 hours ago, sirineou said:

There goes $100 million 

They start at 160 million depending on the variant.

 

"Each jet can cost more than $160 million, depending on the variant"

 

https://time.com/6315261/missing-military-f35-jet/#:~:text=The F-35 program%2C the,million%2C depending on the variant.

 

Still a much better deal than the Thai proposed purchase of Chinese Subs without engines. 

[Tropposurfer]

Some 'pollie' in the USA said today; 'How in the hell do you loose an F35?!'

 

They literally 'lost' the plane for hours!!! Good job Yanks. 

 

What with the GOP, Donald the Destroyer, MAGA and Q Anon nutjobs running all over the north American continent ... Confidence in not high, I repeat confidence is not high in the 'Good ol' US of A'.

 

What do these things cost? $150 million each???!!!

[brianthainess]

11 hours ago, Social Media said:

“The mishap is currently under investigation.”

A frigging 'Mishap' is a bit of an understatement to say the least. 

[Paradise Pete]

6 hours ago, sirineou said:

^^^^ 

So I google it and since the beginning of the F35 program, 10m0f them have crashed , which puts the cost at I trillion dollars. 

It costs $42,000 per hour to operate, Currently the US operates 450 F-35s

you do the math.

But universal health care? impossible too expansive.

 

I'm all in favor of universal healthcare, but I'm not so sure about your figures there. You're saying 10,000,000 of them have crashed? Only a few thousand have been built. It's been in service 18 years or so. That's 1,500 crashes per day, or 1 every minute, 24 hours a day, for 18 years.

 

Maybe you accidentally googled Thai motocy crashes?

[xtrnuno41]

Well what can you expect of a plane with 700 soft & hardware failures.

Already the second one.

Besides "stealth" , red once there was a method to detect anyhow, good job!

[GroveHillWanderer]

36 minutes ago, Paradise Pete said:

I'm all in favor of universal healthcare, but I'm not so sure about your figures there. You're saying 10,000,000 of them have crashed? Only a few thousand have been built. It's been in service 18 years or so. That's 1,500 crashes per day, or 1 every minute, 24 hours a day, for 18 years.

 

Maybe you accidentally googled Thai motocy crashes?

It's a typo - the actual figure of F-35’s that have crashed is 10.

[steven100]

7 hours ago, billd766 said:

The aircraft is a stealth jet - meaning its airframe, sensors and systems are designed to operate undetected by enemy radar. 

 

My question is a simple one. Why would you put a tracking device on an aircraft which has been designed to be stealth?

 

correct Bill,   and Would Nancy Mace even know what an F-35 Jet fighter is  ?    she probably thinks it's a new type of microwave oven or something.    These Democrats and Republicans really put on a show don't they. 

[herfiehandbag]

All these new fangled flying machines without propellers.

 

Nothing good will come of them, you mark my words!

[steven100]

5 hours ago, topt said:

According to the report I read the pilot set its automatic pilot before ejecting. Did he set it for a particular spot or to just fly on.........could it have crashed on buildings or a road?

he should have set it for Putin's Palace ....    Lol

[GroveHillWanderer]

8 hours ago, billd766 said:

The aircraft is a stealth jet - meaning its airframe, sensors and systems are designed to operate undetected by enemy radar. 

 

My question is a simple one. Why would you put a tracking device on an aircraft which has been designed to be stealth?

 

It is supposed to operate undetected by enemy radar.. 

 

If you put a tracking device on it that is continuously transmitting, then it becomes stealthy no longer.

 

With modern technology, it would not take long to scan all the frequencies and find the tracking transmitter which renders the aircraft stealthy no longer, and in fact would make it easier to track and shoot down.

According to a Marine Corps spokesman, the F-35 did have a transponder on board which should have been working, allowing them to track it but it apparently malfunctioned, for unknown reasons.

 

Missing F-35

 

Quote

Reportedly, the jet’s transponder—which could have been used to geolocate the aircraft—was not functioning for “some reason that we haven’t yet determined,” according to a base spokesman.

 

[sirineou]

 

1 hour ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

It's a typo - the actual figure of F-35’s that have crashed is 10.

correct,

instead of hitting the space bar I hit the the M which just above it. And my math is off, I meant to say Billion instead of trillion. 

[billd766]

2 hours ago, steven100 said:

correct Bill,   and Would Nancy Mace even know what an F-35 Jet fighter is  ?    she probably thinks it's a new type of microwave oven or something.    These Democrats and Republicans really put on a show don't they. 

I didn't really want to down that Nancy Mace road.

[bendejo]

14 hours ago, billd766 said:

My question is a simple one. Why would you put a tracking device on an aircraft which has been designed to be stealth?

Reminds me of something an Irish fellow once told me: "there was no potato famine, we just forgot where we planted them."

 

 

[Paradise Pete]

10 hours ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

It's a typo - the actual figure of F-35’s that have crashed is 10.

I would have thought that, but then the OP said a cost of a trillion dollars, which I suppose is about what ten million would cost. ????????‍♂️

[Mr Derek]

22 hours ago, topt said:

According to the report I read the pilot set its automatic pilot before ejecting. Did he set it for a particular spot or to just fly on.........could it have crashed on buildings or a road?

Why assume it was a 'he'? They let women fly F-35s nowadays. Don't you know women are the new men?

 

[youreavinalaff]

10 minutes ago, Mr Derek said:

Why assume it was a 'he'? They let women fly F-35s nowadays. Don't you know women are the new men?

 

If it was a woman the article would have used " pilotese" or " Miss.Pilot", surely. ????????????????.

 

Do these aircraft have reverse? If not, they might have given a women a go. ????????

[GroveHillWanderer]

1 hour ago, Mr Derek said:

Why assume it was a 'he'? They let women fly F-35s nowadays. Don't you know women are the new men?

I don't know that anyone is assuming anything, we know the pilot is male - he was identified as such in statements by the Marine Corps.

[impulse]

On 9/19/2023 at 1:24 PM, billd766 said:

My question is a simple one. Why would you put a tracking device on an aircraft which has been designed to be stealth?

How tough would it be to design a tracker that only activates when it encounters, say 50G's? 

 

The answer, of course, is that they're already commercially available and cheap as chips.

 

[billd766]

24 minutes ago, impulse said:

How tough would it be to design a tracker that only activates when it encounters, say 50G's? 

 

The answer, of course, is that they're already commercially available and cheap as chips.

 

And have they been tested on a stealth aircraft?

 

Any tracking device transmits all the time it is switched on. Commercial tracking devices use a known frequency band and a different specific code is used to identify each device so that multiple devices can be used per frequency.

 

A computer scanning device can scan every frequency looking for a tracking device and then lock on to it.

 

We used to use something similar in New Zealand back in 2008, some 15 years ago.

 

What is probably needed is a passive tracking device that is only activated when it is called, and even then it can be tracked.

 

It also needs to have a separate internal power supply that works for at least 6 weeks, to work underwater, be built into a crashproof container that can survive a 20G crash and still work 24/7 for at least 6 weeks.

 

IF there are any items like that, they are unlikely to be commercially available, and certainly won't be cheap.

 

If it transmits it uses a radio frequency.

If it uses a frequency it can be tracked.

If it can be tracked, why would you fit it to an aircraft the has been designed to be stealthy?

[impulse]

1 minute ago, billd766 said:

Any tracking device transmits all the time it is switched on. Commercial tracking devices use a known frequency band and a different specific code is used to identify each device so that multiple devices can be used per frequency.

True, but they don't need to be switched on until they encounter some criteria.  Like a 50G crash. There doesn't have to be 2 way communication or handshakes, or any other signal.  Just a GPS and a transmitter that says "I've experienced a crash and here's my location".  Once it's hit the ground, I don't think anyone cares about its stealthiness.

 

That's easy, even for first year electronics students.