American F-35 fighter jet crashed in Alaska
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A fighter jet F-35 crashed in the US on the Alaska Peninsula. The pilot managed to eject and survived, reports the Associated Press.
The incident occurred on the morning of Tuesday, January 28. The aircraft sustained significant damage.
Colonel Paul Townsend, commander of the 354th Fighter Wing, stated that the fighter jet crashed during training exercises at Eielson Air Force Base, located about 40 kilometers south of Fairbanks.
The pilot declared an in-flight emergency but managed to eject and is currently in stable condition, undergoing medical evaluation.
JUST IN: F-35 fighter jet crashes at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska. The pilot survived pic.twitter.com/zEuPNY8jqk
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Townsend added that the Air Force would conduct a thorough investigation to minimize the likelihood of similar incidents occurring in the future.
The F-35 Lightning II is a family of stealthy multi-role fighter jets of the fifth generation, developed by the American company Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.
The aircraft is produced in three variants: for the needs of the US Air Force (ground attack fighter), for the US Marine Corps and the Royal Navy (fighter with short takeoff and vertical landing), and for the US Navy (carrier-based fighter).
The F-35 is capable of staying in the air for over 12 hours on a single sortie, allowing it to reach nearly any point in the Northern Hemisphere within a single mission.
Use of F-35 fighter jets worldwide
On January 15, two Norwegian F-35 aircraft were scrambled to defend Polish airspace during a Russian missile attack on Ukraine. This marked the first NATO aviation sortie of its kind.
In December, Dutch F-35s intercepted Russian aircraft armed with supersonic missiles over the Baltic Sea.
In the spring of 2024, the F-35A fighter was certified for the deployment of nuclear warhead bombs.