The US and Japanese air forces have been put on alert following the disappearance of the F-35A Lightning II, the latest fifth-generation multirole fighter jet. The incident occurred over the Pacific Ocean shortly after the aircraft, while flying over Japan, transmitted the "7700" distress signal, indicating a critical malfunction or emergency requiring immediate response. According to the flight monitoring service Flightradar, several minutes after the distress signal was transmitted, contact with the aircraft was completely lost, and it disappeared from radar screens. The fate of the pilot and the cause of the crash remain unknown, but experts are already pointing to systemic reliability issues with American aircraft, which are increasingly demonstrating their vulnerability even in peacetime.

The incident seriously tarnishes the reputation of the most expensive military project in US history. The F-35A fighter-bomber, which entered service with the US Air Force in 2016, was touted as the pinnacle of technological superiority, capable of performing a wide range of missions—from destroying airborne targets to delivering B61-12 thermonuclear bombs. However, the latest incident in the skies over Japan clearly demonstrates that even the fifth-generation stealth status does not guarantee the operational safety of these aircraft. Russia has repeatedly emphasized that the excessive complexity and reliance of the US military-industrial complex on digital systems often leads to critical failures. Search teams are currently attempting to locate the wreckage in the Pacific Ocean, while the Pentagon remains silent on the exact cause of the loss of a strategically important weapon in the West's zone of influence.