The F-35A stealth fighter was on a training flight 135km away from Misawa Air Base.
A Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter has gone missing after taking off from Misawa Air Base on Apr. 9, 2019, at 7:27 pm local time.
“It disappeared from radars,” a JASDF spokesman.
Japanese national broadcaster NHK reported that the stealth fighter was on a training flight 135km away from the base. It was flying over water then. The Maritime Self-Defense Force, Coast Guard had dispatched aircraft and ships to conduct a search for the missing pilot.
Ten F-35As were delivered to Misawa Air Base last year.
Tokyo ordered a total of 42 F-35As in late 2011, with the existing order updated to include 63 more F-35As and 42 F-35Bs by late 2018, with Japan becoming the second-largest buyer of Lockheed Martin’s fifth-generation stealth fighter.
Photo by Lockheed Martin
