Originally published September 18, 2023 1:42 pm PDT
UPDATE: Officials with Joint Base Charleston confirmed that debris from a F-35 fighter jet that went missing Sunday has been located near Williamsburg County, according to a local NBC News report.
The jet is worth over $78 million.
QUICK FACTS:
- The U.S. Marine Corps has been asking South Carolina Residents if they have seen a downed F-35B Lightning II fighter jet.
- The jet was “involved in a mishap,” according to a statement from Joint Base Charleston, which notes that the pilot had “ejected safely.”
- According to the Air Force Safety Center, a “mishap” is an “unplanned event or series of events that results in damage to DoD property; occupational illness to DoD personnel; injury to on or off-duty DoD military personnel; injury to on-duty DoD civilian personnel; or damage to public or private property, or injury or illness to non-DoD personnel, caused by DoD activities.”
- Among the five classes of mishaps, the missing jet is likely in the Class A category, meaning that the destruction cost totals $2,500,000 or more, there has been a fatality or permanent total disability, destruction of a Department of Defense aircraft has taken place, or that there has been “permanent loss” of the “primary mission capability of a space vehicle.”
- The search for the aircraft is focused near Lake Moultrie. which is 75 feet deep and 14 miles wide.
- If anyone has information about the missing jet, they should call 843-963-3600.
REACTIONS TO THE MISSING AIRCRAFT:
- Citizens mocked the military for requesting assistance in the search for the aircraft, with one tweeting, “Finder’s keepers.”
- Representative Matt Gaetz (R) alluded to the military’s recent woke agenda in his response to the missing aircraft, writing on X, “What are the F-35’s pronouns?” One user responded, “Find/Me.”
- Another individual compared the search for the jet to “Where’s Waldo?”
BACKGROUND:
- The U.S. Air Force recently completed a successful test flight using an aircraft outfitted with artificial intelligence (AI).
- According to Brig. Gen. Scott Cain, AI will be a “critical element” in future warfare and the “speed at which we’re going to have to understand the operational picture and make decisions.”
- “AI, Autonomous Operations, and Human-Machine Teaming continue to evolve at an unprecedented pace and we need the coordinated efforts of our government, academia, and industry partners to keep pace,” he said.
