Japanese F 35 reported missing?

This part of the supplied articles gives me pause.

"The aircraft was leading three F-35s on training maneuvers when it sent an “aborting practice” signal and disappeared from radar, Defence Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters.
The pilot, who had 3,200 hours of flying time, but had spent only 60 hours in the F-35, gave no other indication he was in trouble, the ASDF spokesman said." (Kelly et al)


So, lets examine what we already know on the pilot.

So, 28 minutes into an exercise, the lead pilot just ups and sends an "Abort Practice" signal, which tells me there isn't any initial sign of trouble, otherwise he would have simply requested assistance and weren't they all in radio contact, like some in flight ad hoc network just for them???

Did he disappear from radar during or after the fact? why send an abort signal and suddenly drop off radar?

Did something happen so catasphrohically that he didn't have anytime to respond or eject and was immedietly downed, what could do that, in presumably a short amount of time?

If no body is found, can we assume than that perhaps the pilot is a defector?

I authored a thread a couple weeks ago about a Chinese spy and Mar Lago, well that is completey unrelated however an update from the article made me pause, when SS investigators examined and put the thumbdrive into a laptop...

"The agent testified in court on Monday that the thumb drive began installing files in a "very out-of-the-ordinary" way, and he quickly stopped his analysis of it." (Relman et al)

Source: www.businessinsider.com...

My ultimate point is, what if the pilot was a defector and had something similar that thumbdrive and DL alot of what the F35 has?

I know, I am most likely over thingking it and the truth is, it was simply an accident, the plane crashed, poor pilot didn't make it. However, I have to make note that when it invovles advance tier technology, we have to start assuming the worse because it is our nations pride and joy, a very hard and powerful thing to develop that took YEARS of human ingenuity. I truly do hope it was an accident.

a reply to: Arnie123

This is not, was not, and will not be about a defection. Period. End of story. The pilot either didn't eject, or ejected out of envelope and didn't survive. If he ejected and didn't survive, you're talking about finding what is now an object several feet long, in millions of square miles of ocean, while wearing a green flight suit that blends in. The odds of ever finding his remains are astronomical.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Arnie123

This is not, was not, and will not be about a defection. Period. End of story. The pilot either didn't eject, or ejected out of envelope and didn't survive. If he ejected and didn't survive, you're talking about finding what is now an object several feet long, in millions of square miles of ocean, while wearing a green flight suit that blends in. The odds of ever finding his remains are astronomical.

Well, considering you probably didn't read the final part of my post 😑

When it comes to high tier, I don't breath easy until it's all accounted for and we have the story, at least enough to peice together all the info and compare it to media accounts.

I think I have every right to consider any and all possibilities, even the preposterous ones.

a reply to: Arnie123

I read it all. The only way there's any advantage to something like that, is by getting their hands on a fully intact, functional aircraft, or specific portions of it. Data on a drive is less than helpful, and is probably no more than they already have.

Pilots don't have access to the full source code or any of the other computer related parts that China or Russia would need to be truly useful. Unless he managed to smuggle pieces of skin or other parts into the cockpit, and eject near a ship that there's no evidence that was anywhere near where he hit the water.

Maybe the pilot blacked out and that’s why nothing came out the cockpit

a reply to: blackbird9393

I'm leaning towards something that either started, or seemed to be, minor that rapidly turned catastrophic. He was able to call knock it off, so he shouldn't have been turning hard enough to experience G-LOC.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Wardaddy454

There is a huge difference between reading about something, and getting a working example. I still have no doubt that it's deep underwater, but if either Russia or China got a fully intact aircraft, their aerospace programs would jump significantly.

How so? I could see them making great strides towards improving their respective 5th gen fighters with the avionics and sensors/jamming on the F35.

a reply to: Wardaddy454

Reading how to layer composites means that it's up to your engineers to interpret that document, and still leaves a learning curve. If you get your hands on layered composites and can see how it's done, there's less of a learning curve and less error.

Godzilla

I read somewhere. Possible over at warzone. That it was another pilot in the flight that called knock off.

a reply to: Zaphod58

originally posted by: roadgravel
It is believed that the Chinese stole much data on the plane years ago.

It is believed who by?

a reply to: Arnie123

Perhaps the pilot was just a business man or woman and delivered an F35 to the customer in exchange for $xyz.

Americans support the free enterprise system don't they??

a reply to: blackbird9393

All the reports I've seen so far indicate he made the call.

a reply to: Azureblue

Your comments are arrogant and show that you have absolutely no knowledge on the F-35 program. To you and others with these thoughts of defection: Stop diluting the thread with your sensationalism.

Here you go
here's a source

here's another

yea I read that on another site aswell. In fact the warzone are the only ones reporting. That it was one of the other birds. reply to: Zaphod58

The jet had been airborne for around half an hour when it went down. Supposedly, there was no warning at all from the pilot that something had gone wrong. A call was made to stop training by another pilot sometime around when the aircraft went down. The pilot was in his 40s was highly experienced, but was still somewhat new to the F-35.

This was taken from the Warzone article. The article is here. www.thedrive.com...

a reply to: blackbird9393

I think I'll wait for confirmation on that one.

Why did they decide to cut the second engine and only have one? Was it a cost saving measure?

Why did they decide to cut the second engine and only have one? Was it a cost saving measure?

Why did they decide to cut the second engine and only have one? Was it a cost saving measure?