Breaking News! A U.S. Navy F-35C carrier-based fighter jet crashed suddenly, landed vertically and exploded, and the pilot escaped! On July 30, 2025, local time, multiple media outlets including "The War Zone" reported that a U.S. Navy F-35C carrier-based fighter jet crashed at Naval Air Station Lemoore. Naval Air Station Lemoore is a major attack fighter base for the U.S. Navy on the West Coast. The base is the main attack fighter base for the U.S. Navy on the West Coast, and it deploys F-35C and F/A-18E/F carrier-based fighter jets. It is reported that the crash of the U.S. Navy F-35C fighter jet occurred in the evening of July 30 local time, and the U.S. emergency response team has arrived at the scene. In response, the Naval Air Station Lemoore issued a statement, confirming that one of the F-35C carriers had this crash, but the pilot of the U.S. Navy carrier-based fighter jet was safe. The statement said: "VFA-125 is the F-35C training squadron on the West Coast. At 18:30 on July 30, an F-35C "Rough Rider" fighter jet belonging to the U.S. Navy VFA-125 'Rough Rider' squadron crashed near Naval Air Station Lemoore. Naval Air Station Lemoore confirmed that the pilot successfully ejected and escaped, and is currently safe. No other personnel have been injured. The cause of the accident is under investigation."
Because it landed vertically and exploded, according to the California Fire Department, the crash triggered a large fire. As of 7:54 p.m. local time on July 30, the fire had spread to 10 acres. The California Fire Department and the Naval Air Station Lemoore rushed to the scene. On January 28, 2025 (during the Chinese Spring Festival holiday), a U.S. Air Force F-35A fighter jet crashed during training at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, USA, and the U.S. Air Force pilot successfully escaped. The unit cost of the U.S. F-35A fighter jet is approximately $82.5 million (based on the U.S. military procurement price data at the end of 2024). Other models, the U.S. F-35B fighter jet costs $109 million, and the U.S. Navy's F-35C carrier-based fighter jet costs $102 million. The F-35C carrier-based fighter jet that crashed on July 30, 2025, is the 12th F-35 series fighter jet lost by the U.S. military, and the 18th fifth-generation aircraft lost by the U.S. military.
This is a big disaster for the U.S. military. The crash of the U.S. Navy's most advanced F-35C carrier-based fighter jet has led to the complete collapse of the "myth" of the U.S. F-35 fighter jet. The continuous crashes of the F-35 series fighter jets clearly indicate that the United States is now accelerating its decline, and the U.S. global military hegemony is completely exhausting itself and beginning to collapse. The days when the U.S. military could act recklessly around the world are about to come to an end.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1839135000799241/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.