Where is the $100M US Marine fighter jet? People want to know.

Lockheed Martin has been promising its F-35 fighter jets as "force multipliers" since the Pentagon awarded its military contract to the manufacturer. However, the aircraft has been mired in one blunder after another. The latest debacle involved a $100 million fighter jet that reportedly went missing for more than 24 hours after participating in a training exercise.

On September 18th, Joint Base Charleston had to ask the public for sightings of the jet, as if they were looking for a missing puppy. This bizarre situation caused a stir in social media, prompting people to wonder how a fighter jet could go missing. After an extensive search, debris from the plane was discovered two hours northeast of Charleston.

Captain Joe Leitner of the United States Marine Corps. described the incident as a "mishap", confirming it is currently under investigation. The pilot was located and treated for his injuries at an area hospital. It was unclear to the public what caused the jet to go missing, though authorities believe it could have stayed in the air for some time after the pilot ejected.

This prompted Republican Representative from South Carolina, Nancy Mace, to ask on Twitter, "How in the hell do you lose an F-35? How is there not a tracking device, and we’re asking the public to what, find a jet and turn it in?"

The troubled history of Lockheed Martin dates back to 2001, when the company launched the Joint Strike Program, promising to have squadrons in the skies by 2010 with a price tag of $233 billion. However, the plans were marred by lax oversight, a bad development stratagem, numerous design flaws, and ever-increasing costs. The F-35 program is the most expensive weapons project the Department of Defense has ever undertaken, with an estimated cost of $1.7 trillion to buy, operate, and keep the jets working. Even this astronomical number is under budget, as the program has yet to deliver on an essential combat simulator that is by this point, years overdue.

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