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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Japanese F-35 fighter jet disappears from radar over Pacific |
| 2019-04-09 |
| [KYODO NEWS] - Tokyo - The Japanese Air Self-Defense Force said Tuesday an F-35A fighter jet deployed at Misawa Air Base in northeastern Japan disappeared from radar over the Pacific during a training exercise. Crash or Transponder turned off? The stealth fighter was flying with three other aircraft off the coast of Aomori Prefecture some 135 kilometers east of the base when radar contact was lost around 7:27 p.m., it said. Radio communication cannot be established with the missing single-crew fighter, and search operations are under way. Pilot may be in NK or the Middle Kingdom, based on some recent conversations around here, with a hefty 'finders fee' for the pilot....hoping that's not the case and the pilot is found at sea The fighter is one of 13 F-35As deployed at Misawa. They've only been there for a month or so Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters the ASDF will ground the 12 remaining F-35As for the time being. Japan began deploying U.S.-developed F-35As, each of which costs over 10 billion yen ($90 million), in January 2018 to replace the aging F-4 fighter jet. Japan plans to eventually deploy a total of 105 F-35As in addition to 42 F-35B short takeoff aircraft that it will purchase at a later date. Did they take the domestic 7% parts manufacture option, too? |
| Posted by:Mullah Richard |
| #11 Debris associated with the lost #JASDF #F35 from this morning has been found |
| Posted by: 3dc 2019-04-09 22:57 |
| #10 I hope this isn't another Aegis CD-ROM. |
| Posted by: The peanut gallery 2019-04-09 16:17 |
| #9 May simply be a specially instrumented airframe off to collect. The search, a ruse to it's recovery. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2019-04-09 14:25 |
| #8 Also never heard of a Japanese pilot defecting. Japanese military and government is about as secure to the Chinese as the old West German government was to the East Germans. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2019-04-09 14:12 |
| #7 fly |
| Posted by: Cretle Big Foot4791 2019-04-09 13:41 |
| #6 Japan Maritime Self Defense Force Destroyer DD 154 JDS Amagiri is currently in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chiba Prefecture. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2019-04-09 13:39 |
| #5 F-22 is the uber weapon? Totally, dude. When the aliens attack. all the F-35s on the planet merge into one gigantic flying robot to defend Earth from the invaders. Assuming you can believe those cartoonish marketing videos. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2019-04-09 13:37 |
| #4 some 135 kilometers east of the base (Misawa) when radar contact was lost Likely lost in ocean. Far as I know, the radar enhancing Luneberg lenses can not be jettisoned. To defect, pilot would have to fly east over Japan through lots of radar coverage. Also never heard of a Japanese pilot defecting. Chinese are ancient enemies. Russians are new enemies. |
| Posted by: Cretle Big Foot4791 2019-04-09 13:22 |
| #3 F-22 is the uber weapon? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2019-04-09 13:17 |
| #2 Why make an uber weapon and then sell it to countries all over the world? I don't get it. |
| Posted by: jpal 2019-04-09 12:36 |
| #1 Isn't that the point of stealth? All snark aside I hope the pilot is ok. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2019-04-09 12:14 |