F-35 disappears from radar
 

Quite a headline!
https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2...ific-govt.html
Lets hope they will find the pilot and aircraft in safe condition.

I've already posted this in the F-35 thread... :)

-RP

Your post disappeared to :ok:

RP's post would appear to still be there. In any case, let's hope the pilot is OK.

It didn't show up on my scope. Might have something to do with where I looked...
Agree, lets hope the pilot is safe.

They are supposed to disappear from rader.
The more troubling bit is that they can't establish radio contact with the pilot.
(Hope they find hiim)

Salute!

I can join the conspiracy folks now, and as Wolfie states, they are "supposed to disappear" from radar.

You can see the training "blisters" that are attached on top and bottom near the vertical stabs, They allow for decent radar signatures, but I am not ure if they electronically enhance returns or act completely passively. I suspect they are active and the pilot can turn the things off. Sure, even if passive you might have an RCS the size of a crow versus a hummingbird, but still real hard to detect and track.

So my conspiracy group hypothesizes it could be a defection to some foreign power. That plane has amazing legs with only internal fuel. so let the myths begin!

Gums sends...

Confirmed wreckage apparently

https://japantoday.com/category/nati...e-F-35-fighter

Hope it doesn't have MCAS fitted or we shall have to get the Tornado's back out!

Paranoia as usual. The plane crashed east of Japan, not near Russian or Chinese waters. Also, "super-technologies" used in F-35 are often overestimated. All this stuff is known for years and pieces of wreckage can hardly be of such a high value to be hunted for.

Hope the pilot survived, but as the time runs....

Gums,
I think you're referring to "Luneburg Lenses" which are fitted to the F22 and F35. In effect, they increase the RCS by a factor of several hundred IIRC. Useful for ATC prime radar returns and, of course, for masking the actual RCS from prying radars….Sadly it seems they've found wreckage, but no sign of the pilot.

The wreckage has been found.. No news of the pilot.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-47876128

F35 crash Japan
 

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.
The pilot of the plane, 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 NE Japan.It lost contact about 30 minutes after taking off from the Misawa Air Base.

According to Iwaya, the 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.

Japan has been deploying F-35s, which cost at least $90m (£68m), to replace its ageing F-4 fighter jet. The country has now grounded its 12 remaining F-35 fighter jets at the Misawa base temporarily, said Mr Iwaya. This is only the second time an F-35 has crashed since the jet began flying, according to Reuters.

+

Not a type of accident for Pprune per se, but wonder if it will deliver some insights in the present FBW/automation/glass cockpit discussions.

Why do you say that?

Military Jet crashes into the sea...Pilot is still missing.....why would we here not be interested in a new Jet Fighter crashing especially when the UK, USA, and other nations are or will be operating that Type aircraft?

What sort of data recorder are we talking about on an F-35?
I'm just thinking, if people are worried about wreckage falling into the wrong hands, the DFDR could be a gold mine to the wrong people. Do they remove them before combat missions?

Salute!

@ tdracer
The F-16 and later have a solid state recorder on the seat. Dunno what and how much it records for the F-35, but maybe try the F-35 forums on F-16.net.
Funny thing was that we didn't know about it until a few jets crashed. So made it real hard to lie to the accident board. Heh heh.

Gums sends...

I've worked a few of these on the bottom of very deep oceans, Where needed you could tell a lot from the wreckage even with only photos

Or even Canberras . . .