Insta
Bad Days For Lockheed Martin? After India’s MiG-21 Shot Down F-16, Japanese F-35 Crashes In The Pacific
F-35A in the skies (Donald R. Allen/Wikimedia Commons)
A Japanese F-35 stealth fighter jet built by aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin has crashed into the Pacific Ocean during a training mission on Tuesday (9 April), CNN has reported.
The jet lost contact during a training mission along with three other F-35s and signalled a need to abort mission. Subsequent searches have confirmed the crash and wreckage including the plane’s tail fins have been recovered.
Japan is the second biggest buyer of the jet after the United States and is slated to receive 147 planes from Lockheed Martin.
F-35 is considered one of the most advanced fighter jets in the world but has been marred with reliability issues and unpredictability apart from being inordinately expensive.
Some of the other reported issues in the F-35 include an engine fire, low service life, susceptibility to cyber-attacks and more.
This comes after another major embarrassment for Lockheed Martin when Pakistani Air Force’s F-16 was shot down by Indian MiG-21 Bison aircraft flown by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman during a dogfight between the two nations on 27 February.
Support Swarajya's 50 Ground Reports Project & Sponsor A Story
Every general election Swarajya does a 50 ground reports project.
Aimed only at serious readers and those who appreciate the nuances of political undercurrents, the project provides a sense of India's electoral landscape. As you know, these reports are produced after considerable investment of travel, time and effort on the ground.
This time too we've kicked off the project in style and have covered over 30 constituencies already. If you're someone who appreciates such work and have enjoyed our coverage please consider sponsoring a ground report for just Rs 2999 to Rs 19,999 - it goes a long way in helping us produce more quality reportage.
You can also back this project by becoming a subscriber for as little as Rs 999 - so do click on this links and choose a plan that suits you and back us.
Click below to contribute.
Latest
