# How can a $100M jet plane go missing?

**Published by:** [Durwin](https://paragraph.com/@durwin/)
**Published on:** 2023-12-21
**URL:** https://paragraph.com/@durwin/how-can-a-100m-jet-plane-go-missing

## Content

The F35 jet is one of the most sophisticated and powerful aircraft ever created by humanity.It’s not a rhetoric. I really want to know. Because it really happened. The F-35, a marvel of modern engineering with a price tag to match, recently played a game of hide and seek with the US military. It went off and hide. And never came back. That’s 1–0, points to the F-35. This stealthy bird, designed to avoid detection, did its job a little too well. The F-35 is no ordinary aircraft. It’s the US military’s shiny toy, boasting technology that’s as cutting-edge as it gets. With costs soaring to $100M a pop, it’s an absolute beast.The future of warfare will belong to those who control the skies.Why the hefty price tag? Because the F-35 is to the skies what a Swiss Army knife is to survival — it does it all. It is literally the most versatile and flexible aircraft in the air right now. It has the most sophisticated and advanced stealth technology of any plane. It can be programmed for any mission. “There are three distinct flavors of the F-35: the F-35A, F-35B, and F-35C. All are powered by a single Pratt & Whitney turbofan engine that produces around 40,000 pounds of thrust, propelling it to a top speed of roughly 1,200 miles per hour. The exact weapons payload is variable but can be around 18,000 pounds of bombs or missiles.When a $100M fighter jet goes missing, without its pilot, you better start worrying.According to Lockheed Martin, the “A” variant is the most common F-35 and performs the role of a fighter or bomber, depending on the mission. The “B” version, the same version lost in South Carolina, is capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings thanks to its ability to hover in place. Lastly, the “C” version is for use on the decks of aircraft carriers. The F-35 is also suited for electronic warfare and ground attack missions.” Oh and the Pentagon’s F-35 program is projected to cost American taxpayers $1.7 trillion over the aircrafts’ lifetimes. So what happened was that the jet was cruising when suddenly, there was a malfunction and thankfully, the pilot ejected safely in someone’s backyard (yes, true story) But did they ever find the plane? Well, that’s where it gets interesting.Thankfully the pilot ejected safely, but the jet continued flying solo without anyone manning it for hours.They couldn’t find it or track it due to the problems with the transponder and the plane has advanced stealth capabilities. The military turned to social media, of all places, to ask if anyone’s seen a lost jet. This incident is a humbling reminder of our planet’s vastness. A jet, flying pilotless for hours before taking a dive, is a testament to the sheer scale of Earth’s canvas. An unmanned aircraft travelling cruising speed for hours and when it crashed, no one and nothing was hit. Human technology is indeed astounding.To be able to design and engineer a jet plane like the F-35. Sitting in the cockpit of an F-35 must be transformative. It’s an experience that’s on many bucket lists, including mine. Everyone should try to sit in a fight jet at least once in their lifetime, while they still can. - Would you like to sit in a fighter jet? - #F35Mystery #StealthGoneWild #MilitaryMishaps #PilotSafe #HighTechHideAndSeek #LostAndFound #SkyHighSurprises #TechnologyVsNature #BucketListFlights #AviationAdventures #StealthTechnology #MilitaryMarvels #AirborneAnomalies #HumanIngenuity #AerialAstoundment

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