After a successful first sortie, America's most advanced F-35 fighter crashed miserably.
Just one day after the US F-35B successfully took off for the first time, another state-of-the-art F-35 stealth fighter crashed.
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| US F-35 stealth fighter |
A US military official confirmed to AFP that a Marine Corps F-35 crashed outside Beaufort Air Force Base in South Carolina. “The aircraft was completely destroyed,” the official said. The pilot is being examined for injuries.
This is the first accident in the troubled F-35 development program, marking an unfortunate moment for the most expensive aircraft in history. Each F-35 costs an estimated $100 million.
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| The scene of the F-35 crash on September 28. Photo: Twitter |
The crash came just a day after the US military used the F-35 in combat for the first time, striking Taliban targets in Afghanistan.
Launched in the early 1990s, the F-35 program is considered the most expensive weapon in US history, costing up to 400 billion USD with the goal of producing 2,500 units in the coming years.
If maintenance and upkeep costs are factored into the F-35's lifespan through 2070, the total cost of the program is expected to reach $1.5 trillion.
The F-35's development was delayed several times before it was actually combat ready.
The F-35 is considered the future of military aviation: a highly lethal, multi-role aircraft that combines stealth, supersonic speed, extreme agility, and the latest in induction fusion technology, according to manufacturer Lockheed Martin.
