The fighter jet crashed Tuesday at 3:23 p.m. PDT during a routine training flight, according to Navy officials. The names of the flight crew have not been released.

Wednesday, the wreckage was found on a steep, heavily forested slope at an elevation of 6,000 feet east of Mount Rainier. The area is not accessible by roads, and search crews have been hampered by low visibility in the area.

Military authorities said that the status of the crew cannot be confirmed without a site assessment of the debris area. It is not known if the crew was able to eject before the crash.

• READ MORE: Crashed U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler Located near Mount Rainier

“Our priority is to locate our two aviators as quickly and as safely as possible,” said Captain David Ganci, commander, Electronic Attack Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet. “Adhering to Department of Defense procedure, we cannot identify or confirm the names of aircrew involved in a mishap until 24-hours after their next of kin have been notified of their status.”

Civilian law enforcement, mountain search and rescue teams, and military assets are being used in the search. Thursday, soldiers from the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, joined the search. They bring specialized skills in mountaineering, high-angle rescue, medical, and technical communication skills that are necessary to access the site in the Cascade Mountain Range.

“We appreciate the community support as experienced personnel respond around the crash site,” said Captain Nathan Gammache, commanding officer of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. “We are confident that we have the capability we need at this time and will request any additional capabilities, if needed, via official channels in coordination with the on-site incident commander.”

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

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The fighter jet crashed Tuesday at 3:23 p.m. PDT during a routine training flight, according to Navy officials. The names of the flight crew have not been released.

According to a Navy spokesperson, the wreckage of the jet was spotted on a mountainside east of Mount Rainier shortly after noon Wednesday. As of 10:30 a.m. PDT Thursday, the search continued for the two crewmen aboard the aircraft. 

The search teams include the U.S. Navy Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One (VQ-1), Patrol Squadron (VP-46), Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island Search and Rescue, and U.S. Army 4-6 Air Cavalry Squadron out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, along with Yakima County tribal and local authorities.

• READ MORE: U.S. Navy Search for Pilots Resumes After EA-18G Crash Near Mount Rainier

Terrain near the crash site is rugged and snow covered, and the search was hampered by low visibility. A temporary flight restriction was put in place over the area Tuesday afternoon and was expected to remain in place until Saturday. Wreckage is in an area so remote that it can only be accessed by air.

The aircraft, based out of NAS Whidbey Island north of Seattle, was assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ-130), known as the “Zappers.” 

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

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Personnel at MacDill Air Force Base (KMCF) in Tampa, Florida, closed the base to all nonessential personnel on Tuesday and have begun evacuating aircraft for the second time in as many weeks following Hurricane Helene. The base avoided the worst of Helene but sits in the middle of Tampa Bay, directly in Milton’s projected path. It is also home to the U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command.

• READ MORE: NASA Postpones Europa Clipper Launch as Hurricane Milton Takes Aim at Cape Canaveral

According to an Air Force spokeswoman, MacDill’s 6th Refueling Wing this week relocated 12 KC-135 Stratotankers to McConnell Air Force Base (KIAB) in Kansas, just two days after the aircraft returned home. The spokeswoman also said that the 482nd Fighter Wing at Homestead Air Reserve Base (KHST) near Miami has begun relocating seven F-16 fighters to San Antonio.

The U.S. Navy and Space Force, meanwhile, are preparing to close bases across Florida and southeast Georgia. Navy officials told Military.com that aircraft will be evacuated from Naval Station Mayport off the coast of Jacksonville or hangared at the base.

Patrick Space Force Base near Cape Canaveral will close to nonessential personnel from Wednesday to Friday. Officials this week also postponed the launch of NASA and SpaceX’s Europa Clipper at nearby Kennedy Space Center. Milton is expected to hit the Space Coast after making landfall near Tampa.

• READ MORE: ‘Hurricane Hunters’ Fly Into the Eye of Hurricane Milton

The hurricane has also triggered airport closures across Florida and is expected to produce a potentially devastating storm surge.

As the military moves aircraft out of Milton’s path, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will continue to send its “hurricane hunters”—a pair of Lockheed WP-3Ds, or P-3s, affectionately dubbed “Kermit” and “Miss Piggy,” and a Gulfstream IV-SP nicknamed “Gonzo”—into the eye of the storm to help predict its trajectory.

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A DOJ news release alleges Nader was arrested Tuesday in California for exporting the parts, including components used on military aircraft, to Iran in violation of U.S. economic sanctions and other federal laws. 

The indictment alleges that, beginning in 2023, Nader and other associates conspired to purchase and illegally export four types of aircraft components totaling nearly three dozen individual pieces from the U.S. to Iran. The release states that some of these components are used on military aircraft operated by Iran’s armed forces, including the F-4 fighter jet.

After allegedly receiving purchase orders from customers in Iran, the indictment claims Nader coordinated to buy the parts with business associates in Iran. Nader and his Iran-based associates would allegedly reach out to U.S.-based suppliers of these parts. 

The release states in several instances that Nader falsely identified himself and his company, California-based Pro Aero Capital, to the U.S.-based suppliers as the end user of the items. No additional information could be found regarding Pro Aero Capital, though a search of Nader’s LinkedIn profile shows his association with “Pro Aero Parts Inc.” The business’ Long Beach, California, location is listed as “permanently closed” on Google Maps.

After obtaining the parts, the indictment alleges he attempted to export the items on several occasions to the United Arab Emirates. The items were then to be shipped to the ultimate customer in Iran. These items, however, were detained by a special agent with the Department of Commerce, and none were successfully exported from the U.S.

“This action demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to keeping military-grade equipment out of the hands of the Iranian regime,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “We will aggressively investigate, disrupt, and hold accountable criminal networks that supply sensitive technology to hostile and repressive governments in contravention of U.S. sanctions.” 

DOJ said the FBI Washington Field Office and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is investigating the case, with assistance provided by the FBI Los Angeles Field Office.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Wasserman for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Sean Heiden of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section. 

The release stated that this prosecution is being coordinated through the Disruptive Technology Strike Force, an interagency law enforcement unit co-led by the departments of Justice and Commerce designed to target illicit actors, protect supply chains, and prevent critical technology from being acquired by authoritarian regimes and hostile nations.

“Iran has no business using U.S.-manufactured parts and components to keep their planes and drones in the sky,” said Matthew Axelrod, assistant secretary for export enforcement at the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, said in the statement. “Stopping these items before they get to our adversaries—like we did here—reflects the real-world impact we’re having through the Disruptive Technology Strike Force.”

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The first-of-its-kind competition, dubbed “Ramstein 1v1,” challenged combat pilots from the U.S., U.K., Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, and Germany.

The meeting was assembled in light of Russian ground gains in Ukraine during the third year of the war that rages at “NATO’s doorstep,” the Air Force Times reported. The allied nations’ air forces envision a need to sharpen air-to-air combat skills as tensions with Russia and China threatened to boil over to a shooting war that would put some of the world’s most advanced air forces head-to-head for the first time in decades.

Aircraft on the ramp at Ramstein included U.S.-built F-35A Lightnings, F-16 Fighting Falcons, F/A-18s, and A-4 Skyhawks, as well as Eurofighter Typhoons and French Dassault Rafales.

“Basic fighter maneuvering is a foundational skill set for fighter pilots,” Lieutenant Colonel Michael Loringer, U.S. Air Force-Europe (USAFE) chief of weapons and tactics, said in a statement. “It tests a pilot’s reaction time, physical stamina, and situational awareness. There is no better way to build trust in a pilot’s aircraft or a pilot’s skills than to engage one-on-one.”

“We don’t want to go to war with Russia, and I don’t think they want to go to war with us, either,” USAFE Commander General James Hecker told the Air Force Times last July. “But we need to make sure that we have the forces capable of deterring them so that nothing bad will happen.”

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

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The single-seat F-16 assigned to the 49th Wing based at Holloman AFB went down around 11:50 a.m. MDT, according to the Air Force.

The crash occurred near White Sands National Park about 7 miles from the base, near the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range.

According to a report in Air Force Times, Holloman is a training hub for F-16 pilots, graduating an average of 180 candidates per year. Tuesday’s crash marks the fourth involving Air Force F-16s within the past 12 months, with the other three occurring in South Korea.

The news source cited an average of three F-16 losses per year over the past 10 years. The service operates 841 Fighting Falcons, with plans to reduce that to 830 during fiscal year 2025, according to the report.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

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“Don’t worry. There will definitely be airplanes for Ukraine,” Ole Egberg Mikkelsen, Denmark’s ambassador to Ukraine, told Ukrainian news outlet Mi-Ukraina on Sunday, according to Newsweek.

The confirmation comes days after the Nordic country marked the sale of two dozen of its F-16s to Argentina. Last month, Denmark announced it planned to divest its F-16 fleet as it modernizes with F-35s.

“In Denmark, we are about to change the generation of our fleet of combat aircraft with new F-35 aircraft,” Troels Lund Poulsen, Danish minister of defense, said April 16. “Therefore, I am very pleased that the Danish F-16 aircraft, which have served us well over the years and have been thoroughly maintained and technologically updated, are now being used in the Argentine Air Force. With the deal, we are strengthening the Danish-Argentinian defense cooperation, at the same time as Argentina becomes part of the global F-16 family.”

In late March, Poulsen outlined that Denmark would be donating 19 F-16s to Ukraine, where officials have long sought access to the fighter jet in order to modernize its air force and improve its defense ability following Russia’s invasion in 2022.

The first F-16 aircraft are expected to be delivered to Ukraine this summer.

“It is difficult to set a fixed timetable for the donation of F-16 fighter jets, because there are several conditions that must be met in order for Ukraine to use the donated aircraft,” Poulsen said in late February. 

• READ MORE: Norway to Send F-16s to Denmark for Ukrainian Pilot Training

Last week, the Netherlands delivered three F-16s to the European F-16 Training Center (EFTC) in Romania for Ukrainian pilot training, Reuters reported.

Russia President Vladimir Putin contends that the F-16 “would not change the situation in Ukraine” and has vowed that the aircraft will be shot down by Russian military forces.

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Kendall said the flight is intended to allow him to observe the technology underlying the Air Force’s future fleet of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), which will pair crewed jets with fleets of tiny, buzzing, autonomous drones. A second pilot will join the Air Force secretary, but neither will actually fly the aircraft—a modified F-16—except in case of emergency.

The U.S. is investing plenty of money into the CCA. According to the Associated Press, the Air Force requested $559 million in its upcoming budget to support the program, out of a total budget request of $188.1 billion. The department’s 2025 fiscal year begins October 1. For the 2024 defense spending bill, the U.S. Department of Defense requested $1.8 billion worth of artificial intelligence investments.

“We have a cost problem with the aircraft that we’re buying now,” Kendall said in response to a question from Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, during a hearing for the Air Force and Space Force fiscal year 2025 budget request. “Our fighters are very expensive. The F-35 and the F-15EX cost about $100 million each, NGAD (Next Generation Air Dominance) will cost over $300 million and will be bought in small numbers.

“The uncrewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft give us an opportunity to address the cost and the quantity issues with relatively inexpensive but very highly cost-effective platforms that we add to the fleet.”

The Air Force earlier this month welcomed three F-16s to Eglin Air Force Base (KVPS) in Florida, where they will be modified for autonomous testing. The modifications are part of the Viper Experimentation and Next-gen Operations Model-Autonomy Flying Testbed program, or VENOM-AFT, which supports CCA with funding for autonomous software testing on crewed and uncrewed aircraft.

VENOM-AFT testing will be performed by the Air Force’s 40th Flight Test Squadron and 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron. Personnel will monitor the autonomy system during flight and provide feedback.

Additionally, the Air Force Research Laboratory this month received a $4 million grant to build an AI and machine learning research center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (KFFO) in Ohio.

Kendall’s comments on Tuesday come amid the backdrop of China’s rising military might, particularly in the air.

Drones manufactured in China have been spotted on the battlefield in Eastern Europe and the Levant, where they have inflicted devastating attacks on troops, infrastructure, and civilians. Chinese manufacturer DJI is considered the largest seller of consumer drones. But many cheaply bought DJI products have been modified for use in combat, prompting wariness among U.S. lawmakers.

Kendall urged senators to modernize the department’s technology, warning that any further budget delays could give China a leg up. The budget for the current fiscal year was enacted in March, more than six months later than intended.

“Time matters, but so do resources,” Kendall said. “The United States is also now facing a competitor with national purchasing power that exceeds our own, a challenge we have never faced in modern times.”

Beyond the CCA, the DOD is also building up an army of “small, smart, cheap” drones through the Replicator initiative, announced by Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks in August.

According to Hicks and other senior officials, the plan is to produce “multiple thousands” of systems that are attritable, meaning they could be lost or shot down with minimal impact to U.S. military capabilities. These drones would be ideal for high-risk operations in which the chance of a crash or takedown is likely.

Hicks said the objective is to “outmatch” China. But William LaPlante, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, clarified that Replicator systems will be distinct from CCA aircraft. However, LaPlante added that Replicator drones could be “very complementary” to the CCA initiative.

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The aviators graduated from elementary flight training Friday and were recognized in a ceremony marking the milestone. 

• READ MORE: First Ukrainian Pilots Expected to Finish U.S. F-16 Training By Summer

“RAF flying instructors have taught the pilots general handling, instrument flying, low-level navigation, and advanced formation flying to prepare the pilots for advanced fast jet flying training prior to F-16 conversion with coalition partners,” the RAF said. “On the ground they completed an aviation medicine course and high G-force centrifuge training. Babcock provided the Grob Tutor aircraft along with technical and operational support. Together with the RAF team they completed the training ahead of time with 100 percent aircraft availability.”

The pilots will now progress to advanced fast jet training and conversion to the F-16 with partner nations from the Air Force Capability Coalition, the RAF said.

At least a dozen Ukrainian pilots continue to train with the 162nd Wing of the Arizona Air National Guard (ANG) at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, with the first four expected to finish by May.

“I would like to congratulate these brave pilots on completing their initial training here in the U.K.,” British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said during Friday’s event. “Thanks to the world-renowned skills of the RAF, they have received some of the best training available and are now a step closer to joining the fight against [Russia President Vladimir] Putin’s illegal invasion.”

• READ MORE: First Ukrainian F-16 Pilots Finish Training in UK

On Wednesday, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said the Netherlands will be supplying Ukraine with advanced reconnaissance drones, as well as 350 million euros for F-16 ammunition, Reuters reported. The country, along with Denmark and the U.S., are planning to deliver the first of dozens of the fighters to Ukraine this summer.

Ukrainian defense officials have long sought access to the aircraft following Russia’s invasion in 2022.

“The conflict in Ukraine highlights the importance of air and space power, and the need to gain and maintain control of the air to defeat an enemy,” Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton, RAF’s chief of the air staff, said during the ceremony. “I salute the courage and determination of these Ukrainian pilots.”

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The $1.3 billion contract for the updated variant, considered the backbone of the Navy’s carrier air wing, also includes a technical data package that the service said is vital for the platform’s sustainment for decades to come.

• READ MORE: Boeing Delivers MQ-25 Stingray to U.S. Navy for Testing

“The technical data package was a crucial part of this negotiation.; It is necessary for naval aviation’s operational readiness and postproduction sustainment,” said Rear Admiral John Lemmon, program executive officer for tactical aircraft programs. “The Super Hornet remains a predominant aircraft in the carrier air wing and will continue to provide significant combat capability into the 2040s.”  

• READ MORE: Marines Deactivate Historic F/A-18 Hornet Training Squadron

Delivery of the aircraft is expected in winter 2026, with final delivery no later than spring 2027, the Navy said.

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