The same day the Pentagon announced it had struck a deal with defense contractor Lockheed Martin to drive down costs for the next batch of planes to a historical low.
Smoke rises at site of the F-35 jet crash in S. Carolina
The service did not give a suspected cause for the crash, saying the incident remained under investigation. “The U.S. Marine pilot safely ejected from the single-seat aircraft and is currently being evaluated by medical personnel,” the Marines said in a statement. “There were no civilian injuries.”
The F-35B stealth fighter jet was used by the United States in combat Thursday for the first time, against the Taliban in Afghanistan, after taking off from an amphibious assault ship in the Arabian Sea.
The F-35B is the most expensive of three variants of the F-35, which also include the F-35A conventional take-off and landing version, and the F-35C, used aboard aircraft carriers.
Israel in May was the first country to use the F-35 stealth fighter in combat. It launched strikes on Gaza and other targets in Syria. Reports said that it was also used in US-Saudi Aggression against Yemen.