America’s first F-35B stealth fighter crashes

AMERICA’S controversial F-35 stealth fighter has crashed for the first time, triggering an investigation into what brought its most expensive weapon down.

AMERICA’S controversial F-35B stealth fighter has crashed for the first time, triggering an investigation into the cause.

The US Marine Corps F-35B crashed Friday in Beaufort County, South Carolina, near Marine Corp Air Station Beaufort.

The pilot managed to eject safely and is being assessed for any injury, a military official told CNN.

The Marines confirmed the incident in a statement, saying the “pilot safely ejected from the single-seat aircraft and is currently being evaluated by medical personnel. There were no civilian injuries”.

The jet belonged to Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 which is stationed at Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort.

“The cause of the crash is under investigation,” it stated.

The military aircraft has been dubbed as America’s most expensive weapon in military history.

US Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Rey White, launches an F-35B Lightning II from the amphibious assault ship USS Essex on September 22. Picture: AFP

The crash comes after the US military’s F-35B joint strike fighter conducted its first-ever air strike on Thursday.

The strike took place in Afghanistan against a fixed Taliban target.

The aircraft involved were the US Marine Corps’ variant of the aircraft flying from the USS Essex amphibious assault ship.

The Marines confirmed the strike, saying: “During this mission the F-35B conducted an air strike in support of ground clearance operations, and the strike was deemed successful by the ground force commander.”

Military plane crash in Beaufort near Joe Allen Drive area. Appears to have crashed on a bluff/island owned by Clarendon Plantations. Not usually many people over there. Praying for the safety of all involved! pic.twitter.com/dM5a8v2lg1

— Sam Richardson (@SamRichardsonAM) September 28, 2018

The F-35 aircraft has stealth capabilities, supersonic speed, extreme agility and state-of-the-art sensor fusion technology, according to Lockheed Martin, the main supplier of the fighter.

The Pentagon announced on Friday an $US11.5 billion ($A15.9 billion) contract for 141 F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin Corp, the biggest batch yet, lowering the price for the most common version of the stealthy jet by 5.4 per cent to $US89.2 million ($A123 million).

A preliminary deal was struck in July, and reported first by Reuters, clearing the way for a larger multi-year purchase that aims to bring the cost per jet down to $US80 million ($A110 million) by 2020.

An F-35B Lightning II launches from the flight deck of amphibious assault ship USS Essex on September 22. Picture: AFP

Most of the jets are for the US military, and others are for a number of allied countries.

Reducing the cost of the world’s most expensive defence program is crucial to securing orders in the United States and more from abroad.

“Driving down cost is critical to the success of this program,” Vice Admiral Mat Winter, head of the Pentagon’s F-35 office said.

The agreement removes a roadblock from negotiations for a multi-year deal for the fighters that is expected to consist of three tranches over fiscal years 2018-2020.

The advanced flight simulators that will be used to train F-35 pilots for six weeks before they get into the real thing. Picture: Lockheed Martin

President Donald Trump and other US officials have criticised the F-35 program for delays and cost overruns, but the price per jet has declined as production increased. The price of the last batch of F-35A’s in 2017 cost 7 per cent less than the previous jet order.

In addition, negotiations were ongoing for a multi-year deal that was said to be worth more than $US37 billion ($A51.2 billion), and encompassing a record 440 F-35 fighter jets.

US military staff test the ALIS system that underpins the F-35 JSF program. Picture: Lockheed Martin

Negotiations for this 11th batch of jets were extended because Trump-appointed Pentagon leadership drilled deep into the program to understand its costs, prolonging negotiations for the multi-year “block buy,” people familiar with the talks have said.

Last summer, Reuters had reported on this 11th round of contract negotiations between Lockheed and F-35 customers including Australia, Denmark, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, South Korea, Britain and the United States. At the time, the anticipated price was for about $88 million per jet.

A Joint Strike Fighter F-35 Gen III Helmet. Picture: Supplied

The F-35 comes in 3 variants: the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing model; the F-35B, a short takeoff/vertical landing version; and the F-35C, used aboard aircraft carriers.

In the US, this deal includes 91 jets including 53 of the A variant, 24 of the B variant and 14 of the C variant. In addition, there are 28 F-35’s for international partners and 22 for Foreign Military Sales customers in this batch.