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Have they said whether the transponder was active on the jet? They usually have the ADSB beacon live when flying near airports, but if it was turned off it woul

Have they said whether the transponder was active on the jet? They usually have the ADSB beacon live when flying near airports, but if it was turned off it would be a bit trickier to find. Also, if the retroreflector wasn't extended it might be hard for active radar to track it as well. Worst case scenario would be if it was in "full stealth" mode -- that would be the situation where we discover that NORAD air defense systems can't detect our own jets!

seatac76 3y ago
It wasn’t active, reasons were not given. [1] [1] https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/f-35-cant-be-found-after-pilot-ejected https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/f-35-cant-be-found-aft...
giantg2 3y ago
They should be able to track gross location on radar. The stealth capabilities are mostly focused on thwarting precise location and missile guidance radars. The issue here is finding the precise crash site. General location should be known. Trying to find it under the tree canopy could be more challenging depending on how rural it is.
- giarc 3y ago
  I think they do have the general location, they keep mentioning two lakes near the base. So I suspect it's at the bottom of one of them, although then it's odd they are asking for public help finding them.
  - jvm___ 3y ago
    "Dagobah" was how I heard the search area described. Or parts of it at least. "The weather was horrible" when the pilot ejected, so if it was pouring rain and slipped nicely into a swamp somewhere - and then the rain doused anything smoking...
  - Turing_Machine 3y ago
    For that matter, Joint Base Charleston is only around 25 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. It doesn't take a Mach 1.6 aircraft very long to go 25 miles. That's only about 75 seconds of flight time.
  - giantg2 3y ago
    It's not too odd to ask for help. Generally they want anyone who heard/saw something to report what they saw. I witnessed a jet crash once. Even though I was a kid and they knew the exact location, they still wanted the information. If it did crash into a lake, it's possible someone heard it while they were fishing or something.
cvccvroomvroom 3y ago
This is odd because military jets in the area here in the area (in CONUS) invariably have their transponders on.
- vdqtp3 3y ago
  > invariably You keep saying that word...I do not think it means what you think it means. More seriously, military aircraft throughout the US often do not have their ADS-B or transponders turned on.

seatac76 3y ago

It wasn’t active, reasons were not given. [1] [1] https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/f-35-cant-be-found-after-pilot-ejected https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/f-35-cant-be-found-aft...

giantg2 3y ago

They should be able to track gross location on radar. The stealth capabilities are mostly focused on thwarting precise location and missile guidance radars. The issue here is finding the precise crash site. General location should be known. Trying to find it under the tree canopy could be more challenging depending on how rural it is.

giarc 3y ago
I think they do have the general location, they keep mentioning two lakes near the base. So I suspect it's at the bottom of one of them, although then it's odd they are asking for public help finding them.
- jvm___ 3y ago
  "Dagobah" was how I heard the search area described. Or parts of it at least. "The weather was horrible" when the pilot ejected, so if it was pouring rain and slipped nicely into a swamp somewhere - and then the rain doused anything smoking...
- Turing_Machine 3y ago
  For that matter, Joint Base Charleston is only around 25 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. It doesn't take a Mach 1.6 aircraft very long to go 25 miles. That's only about 75 seconds of flight time.
- giantg2 3y ago
  It's not too odd to ask for help. Generally they want anyone who heard/saw something to report what they saw. I witnessed a jet crash once. Even though I was a kid and they knew the exact location, they still wanted the information. If it did crash into a lake, it's possible someone heard it while they were fishing or something.

cvccvroomvroom 3y ago

This is odd because military jets in the area here in the area (in CONUS) invariably have their transponders on.

vdqtp3 3y ago
> invariably You keep saying that word...I do not think it means what you think it means. More seriously, military aircraft throughout the US often do not have their ADS-B or transponders turned on.