F-35 jet reported missing by authorities after pilot ejects during 'mishap': officials

At least it earned its wings as a stealth jet.

The US military faced widespread mockery Monday as it was forced to ask for help finding a $90 million F-35 stealth jet that went missing after its pilot ejected during a mysterious “mishap” over North Carolina.

Joint Base Charleston and Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort posted a Facebook appeal Sunday asking “the public” to “cooperate” in looking out for the missing F-35 Lightning II, which maker Lockheed Martin brags as being “the most lethal, stealthy and survivable aircraft in the world.”

“The pilot ejected safely,” the statement said — with the Post and Courier citing an incident report as saying he was found by a shocked Charleston resident in his backyard.

The search for the stealth jet was focused on the area “around Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion,” Joint Base Charleston said of a pair of lakes that have an average depth of just 20 feet.

However, the jet had been left in autopilot — suggesting it could have remained airborne for an unknown amount of time, base spokesman Jeremy Huggins told NBC News.

Complicating the search, the transponder — which would typically help locate it — was not working “for some reason that we haven’t yet determined,” Huggins told the Washington Post.

“So that’s why we put out the public request for help,” he said.

“The aircraft is stealth, so it has different coatings and different designs that make it more difficult than a normal aircraft to detect.”

On Monday afternoon, the search had extended across a wider swath of South Carolina, officials said, with search planes repeatedly covering a 50-mile area between Marion and Georgetown, the Post and Courier said. Huggins was only able to tell NBC that he was confident the jet was no longer in the air.

The military has yet to explain the exact “mishap” behind the baffling disappearance of the jet, which was part of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing’s Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron.

Marine Capt. Joseph Leitner told the Post and Courier that “there was no air-to-ground or air-to-air ordinance aboard the aircraft” — while warning anyone who sees it to “remain a safe distance” because of other potential hazards.

The ongoing search quickly sparked widespread incredulity and outrage.

“How in the hell do you lose an F-35?” asked South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace. “We’re asking the public to what, find a jet and turn it in?” she asked.

“We knew the F-35 was stealth, but this is ridiculous,” she added Monday.

She stressed to the Post and Courier, however, that it was a serious “public safety issue.”

“They don’t know if the jet is in the air or if it’s in the water … They have absolutely no idea.”

Rep. Andy Biggs, of Arizona, tweeted similar outrage.

“How on Earth did the Biden administration lose track of an $80 million F-35 jet?” he asked. “What else are they losing?”

Other people mocked the hunt by posting “Missing Jet” reward signs.

“Are you telling me we LOST an F-35 FIGHTER JET, but in less than 24 hours had night vision surveillance of Lauren Boebert in a Colorado theater?” quipped CJ Pearson, a Praeger University professor.

Lockheed Martin calls its jet “the most lethal, survivable and connected fighter jet in the world,” one that “gives pilots the critical advantage against any adversary, enabling them to execute their mission and come home safe.”

“The F-35 is more than a fighter jet, it’s a powerful force multiplier with advanced sensors and communications suites operating close to the battlefield and from an elevated position significantly enhancing the capabilities of networked airborne, maritime, space, surface and ground-based platforms.”

Ironically, he F-35’s range of stealth modes restricting its visibility to radar and other detection may play a role in its apparent undiscoverability by the US.

The planes cost at least $90 million, with older models as much as $160 million. In total, the F-35 program is projected to cost $400 billion in development and acquisition, plus an additional $1.2 trillion to operate and maintain, according to Bloomberg — making the jet’s disappearance costly to the US.

But perhaps more costly, defense experts say, is the potential for the jet to be recovered by the wrong hands. 

The jet, also known for its ability to land vertically, has been highly sought after by US adversaries eager to gain insight on its capabilities and weak points. 

Chinese military scientists, for example, have listed the F-35 to be a greater threat to Beijing in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait than other stealth aircraft, such as the American F-22, according to a study published this year in the Chinese language journal Modern Defence Technology.

The researchers found both fighter jets pose a “significant” threat to Chinese defenses – but the F-35 would be more versatile and capable in a future potential conflict in the waters surrounding China.

While China has built its own version of the F-35 – thanks in part to Beijing’s stealing parts of the jet’s design data more than a decade ago – it remains in prototype phase and has yet to be fielded.