JASDF F-35A missing on 9 Apr 2019

[Uni]

One F-35A of 302sqn. lost rader contact at around 1930(JST), 135km East of Misawa.

No other infos. by now(2100JST).

Uni

[Stratofreighter]

One F-35A of 302sqn. lost rader contact at around 1930(JST), 135km East of Misawa.

No other infos. by now(2100JST).

Uni

Oh dear...
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/201904 ... 81000.html

NHK
NHK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHK

[Alpha Kilo One]

Lost radar contact? Not stealthy enough?

[pjotrtje]

An F-35 in peacetime has radar reflectors on the fuselage, one on top and one on the belly.

[orange]

An F-35 in peacetime has radar reflectors on the fuselage, one on top and one on the belly.

Two on top, two on the belly.

[Stratofreighter]

...see
https://theaviationist.com/2018/01/26/i ... eflectors/

Stealth aircraft, such as the F-22 Raptor or the F-35 Lightning II 5th generation jets are equipped with Luneburg (or Luneberg) lenses:
radar reflectors used to make the LO (Low Observable) aircraft (consciously) visible to radars.

These devices are installed on the aircraft on the ground are used whenever the aircraft don’t need to evade the radars:
during ferry flights when the aircraft use also the transponder in a cooperative way with the ATC (Air Traffic Control) agencies;
during training or operative missions that do not require stealthiness;
or, more importantly,
when the aircraft operate close to the enemy whose ground or flying radars, intelligence gathering sensors.

[Starfighter_F-104G]

F-35A has nr 4 LL
F-35B has nr 3 LL
F-35C has nr 4 LL

[EA6B Prowler]

The JASDF looses a F-35A & as far as I know the loss of a pilot, then grounds the jet probably until the cause of the loss becomes apparent

This thread discusses whether it is stealthy enough, give me a break

[raameagle]

On another forum people are questioning whether or not the pilot might have defected to China or Russia so actually, a discussion on the stealth capabilities of the jet seems quite normal in comparison!
RIP to the pilot if he or she was unfortunately killed!
Regards
Mark

[Starfighter_F-104G]

79-8705

[stanak]

hope they will find the pilot alive

aircraft seen one year ago at Luke AFB

[Stratofreighter]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47876128

Wreckage of crashed Japanese F-35 fighter jet found

10 April 2019

Wreckage from a Japanese F-35 stealth fighter jet has been found,
a day after it disappeared from radar over the Pacific Ocean.

The pilot of the plane, however, is still missing,
Japanese military officials said.

Parts of the plane have been recovered during search operations at sea.

It is not known why the plane, which is less than a year old, lost contact and crashed.

"We have collected parts from the jet fighter's tail fin so we [believe] it crashed,"
Defence Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters.


The fighter jet went missing at 19:27pm (10:27 GMT) on Tuesday
as it was flying 135km (84 miles) east of Misawa, a city in north-eastern Japan.

It lost contact about 30 minutes after taking off from the Misawa Air Base.

According to Mr Iwaya, the missing pilot had sent a signal to abort the mission.
All communication with him was lost shortly after.

Rescue teams are continuing their search for the male pilot who is in his 40s,
according to news site Kyodo.

No problems with the aircraft had previously been reported,
according to Japan's public broadcaster NHK.

Also:
https://australianaviation.com.au/2019/ ... a-crashes/

...and indeed:

The JASDF said the missing aircraft was 79-8705 (AX-05),
the first F-35 to be assembled at the FACO in Nagoya by Mitsubishi in 2017.

[Alpha Kilo One]

Actally the Americans were a bit stressed. They were worried that the russian OR Chinese would find it first.

[Stratofreighter]

https://www.aerotime.aero/clement.charp ... ost-at-sea

Japan announced on May 7, 2019,
that it had found more debris, including part of the flight recorder,
from the F-35 fighter jet that crashed into the sea a month before.

However, the memory chips containing the flight data,
essential to understand the reasons behind that accident,
are still missing.

The fuselage,
which could give some precious information on the stealth technology involved in the design of the aircraft,
is also yet to be found.

Japan and the United States are in a race against time
as they both want to prevent Russia and China from finding parts of the plane
and thus discover its secrets.

Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said in a press conference
that the Japanese Air Self Defense Force would continue its research operation
to recover the debris of the aircraft and the remains of its pilot.

Identified as 79-8705, it was the first of 13 aircraft
assembled in Japan at
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagoya Final Assembly and Checkout Facility (FACO).

https://www.aerotime.aero/clement.charp ... ost-at-sea

[Uni]

They start flying at Misawa from 1st. Augst.

Uni