Can a fighter jet be stolen?
Theft of aircraft is a crime that is becoming more and more common, and it is frequently committed in conjunction with drug smuggling. Owners should take more preventative action, and investigation units must better equip themselves to handle cases of aircraft theft.
As long as the thief is skilled in flying and is familiar with airport procedures, stealing an airplane is not too difficult, according to the US Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs. The aircraft may be hotwired if the owner does not leave the keys inside. The thief just needs to start the aircraft and call the airport control tower to get takeoff instructions.
Considering how easy it is to steal an aircraft, one may ask if it is also feasible to steal a fighter jet.
Tasked to steal a USAF F-4 Phantom II
Joe Montana, former US Air Force (USAF) F-4 Phantom II Weapon Systems Officer (WSO), answered this question on Quora;
‘Yes, as a test of flightline security a pilot and I were tasked to steal an F-4. A few people in maintenance and security were advised but were only to take action to prevent damage to the aircraft or use of deadly force. We convinced a crew chief that his plane was the spare aircraft and we were taking it. Tower did not notice we started engines. By the time tower realized we were taxing, we were on the parallel taxi way. The pilot gave tower some bogus information that confused them momentarily but gave use a few more seconds of taxi time. By then we could have taxied onto the active runway. We would have less than the length of the runway and takeoff would have been with a tail wind but it was possible. We called the exercise off and stopped taxing.’
The only way to steal a USAF fighter jet
Montana concludes;
‘This was possible only because of the aircraft’s parking spot on the ramp and that the parallel taxi way used part of the parking ramp. Also, the layout of the base put us at the most distant location for security to respond. Additionally, we knew the aircraft was fueled and that there were no maintenance holds.
‘Things were a lot more relaxed than today.’
Photo by Senior Airman Jesse Shipps / U.S. Air Force