F-35 jet "missing" after pilot ejects

boing
22

i’d have assumed that too, but maybe in stealth mode it does not: otherwise, adversaries would sniff for those signals to find the plane

( eta: oh look. it’s my cake day. :cake: sweet! )

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I wonder if pilot did something to piss off the AI… :thinking:

Stealth on… full tank of gas… eject pilot…

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Jeezus. . .

So then even commercial airports wouldn’t see it on radar as it approaches?

Still, it could be worse:

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The only thing to do is to wait until it starts its own Twitter/Instagram account, and then start tracking it based on the selfies.

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26

And decennial! Congrats.

Tina Fey Nbc GIF by Saturday Night Live

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27

This seems like one of those interesting catch-22 problems. Build an aircraft that has a stealth mode so no one can figure out it’s flying around. What happens when it gets shot down, or crashes? Can you find it if it’s intentionally not supposed to be easily detectable? Has this scenario actually happened in the wild yet with this plane? What did we do with the F-117 etc? Well it’s happening right now for sure.

It’s interesting to think the aircraft could still be flying if it was on autopilot and had fuel - if so, what happened that made the pilot eject? Is it the hypoxia thing that’s plagued the F-35 platform?

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28

No love for the Ace call out? I mean, what a guy!

29

Not only that, but in a crash in stealth mode, or maybe even on pilot ejection, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the aircraft was capable of scuttling its own electronics and other particularly sensitive systems.

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30

Idk, it’s not Kenny Loggins without a laser light show.

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31

… what a bargain

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32

Not THE biggest boondoggle but close. Oxymoronic language like fresh frozen, military intelligence…

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Snared by a Chinese “weather” balloon with a big net? Or…

im not saying ancient aliens GIF by Giffffr

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image

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35

Beat me to it…

s-l500

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We’ve secretly replaced their flight suits with Y-17 trauma override harnesses; let’s see if they notice!

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37

Found it!

f35
f351920×1200 331 KB

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38

I await the instructable on how to turn a F-35 into a stealth camper.

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39

Whatever was wrong couldn’t have been that bad if the autopilot was still engaged.
Don’t worry, Otto’s got this.
pilot airplane GIF

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40

$80 million. Wow.

I lost my car keys and can’t find them. This almost makes replacement Subaru key-fobs seem affordable.

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Hey Lockheed, Apple AirTags! Think about it.

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