USA
Missing fighter jet: US military finds suspected debris
An F-35 fighter aircraft takes off from the US Air Base Spangdahlem. One such fighter jet disappeared in the US state of South Carolina after the pilot escaped using the ejection seat due to a “mishap”. photo
© Harald Tittel/dpa
“The US military is missing an F-35. If you find one, it could be their jet”: The public search for one of the world’s most modern fighter aircraft is causing ridicule – and is now apparently over.
The fighter jet disappeared on Sunday after the pilot escaped using the ejector seat due to a “glitch”. He was treated in hospital. The military then asked the public for help in finding the F-35. This caused ridicule.
According to various reports, the fighter jet currently costs between 80 and 100 million US dollars (around 75 to 96 million euros). The F-35 stealth jet from the US defense company Lockheed Martin is considered one of the most modern fighter aircraft in the world. The jet that was missing in the meantime was an F-35B – a vertical take-off aircraft that covers shorter distances.
“The US military is missing an F-35. If you find one, it could be their jet,” the US broadcaster CNN headlined in the afternoon. “We knew the F-35 was stealthy, but this is ridiculous,” Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina wrote on X (formerly Twitter).