this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023
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[–] [email protected] 64 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Don't black boxes have beacons of some kind?

I'd also imagine an airtag is useless in this scenario as if it crashed and no one knows about it, it's likely not near someone's Bluetooth enabled phone either.

[–] dragontamer 46 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Uhhh...

F35 is a stealth aircraft. Beacons are literally against the point of the damn thing.

People are asking 'How could you lose your invisible car? Why didn't you just put a tracking device on it?'

[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'd imagine it's something that can be turned on and off, just like it's stealth technology.

Edit: to further expand on this, finding the downed plane is a lot more important than it sounds. This could technically be classified as spillage considering there is classified tech in an F35. Foreign agents would benefit if they found it first. I'm pretty sure there are recon teams trained to recover downed aircraft in military zones. Considering they still are equipped with radio for communication, I'd imagine even just an encrypted message at time of impact could be useful.

Losing a plane over friendly zones shouldn't have to worry about having a beacon that's always on. I fail to understand why it would be silly to believe one could be useful in a jet fighter, stealth or not. I'd imagine it's likely even present but just defunct for whatever reason in this scenario and details can't be revealed about that, as again, it still contains classified technology.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

F35s have transponders, just like every other aircraft that flies in the US. They are necessary to avoid mid-air collisions. When flying a stealth mission in enemy airspace, they can turn the transponders off.

Unfortunately, the transponder on this particular F35 is not working.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They also turn them off for a number of other reasons.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Sure, but the point is they have transponders. And pilots generally use them (because it's safer) unless they have a good reason not to.

[–] Zehzin 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So once its on the air the jet has zero comms? That doesn't seem right

[–] dragontamer -2 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Zehzin 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (7 children)

Why can everything else can be turned off when needed but not this? Surely "the pilot ejected" would be a good moment to start knowing what's going on with the plane

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

They still have them but because of course they do. They can be turned off easily enough. I'm not sure what sorts of modes they have when ejecting. I could prolly find an AF tech and ask.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

i feel like a beacon on a military jet would be counterproductive if the jet were to fall on enemy land

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Do they not put beacons on their seats either? How did they find the pilot? I'd imagine if it were an issue, it could be deactivated in wartime or over enemy lines.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

They can turn them on/off depending on their needs. I'd imagine you train exactly how you'd fly.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Even on home turf it's not great if the enemy/terrorists can find out where your equipment is. Pearl Harbor was on US soil.

Obviously it would be nice in this specific scenario, but how often would that really be useful in comparison to the potential security issues that comes along with it?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Yes it has a transponder, but the transponder is not working.

[–] IHateReddit 48 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

the airtag won't do anything if there are no iphones around

[–] NightAuthor 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Telling people to be on the lookout for an F35 won’t do anything if there’s no people around.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] NightAuthor 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You’re right, I shoulda sent my satellite to the area to search for it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Mr. US Government, I presume?

[–] Aganim 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Can you tell that to my Android phone that nagged me for 4 days straight about the AirTag hidden in the rental van I used for a trip through France? Was fun trying to drain the battery by making it bleep throughout the trip though.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Depending on the application you used to alert you of the AirTag, it's possible that your phone did not send location data back to Apple.

Apple can track AirTags, because iPhones are programmed to listen for them over Bluetooth Low Energy, and send the ID of the AirTag and location data of the device to Apple.

If your Android phone has an application to listen for BLE devices in the background, keeping track (locally) of which devices it saw in what locations, that application can tell you if you're travelling with an AirTag (or similar device). It might even be able to interact with the AirTag, such as making it beep or reading its ID. If that application doesn't send your location to Apple, the AirTag was not able to use your phone to make its location known to the owner.

Therefore, to the owner, AirTags are useless unless an iPhone (or other device that sends its location to Apple) is around.

[–] SpaceNoodle 39 points 1 year ago (4 children)

The dollar sign goes on the left.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 1 year ago (2 children)

This is a German meme. They use Megadollars because of the metric system.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

They actually just call it a royale without gps

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Putting the dollar sign in the left or right, decidollers or megadollers... Decisions, decisions...

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Well isn’t that just the state of politics today.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

right side dollar side gang $$$

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago
[–] TheHottub 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's currently doing some Flight of The Navigator stuff with some kid in Noth Carolina.

[–] AngryCommieKender 2 points 1 year ago

What happened to my brain?

It leaked.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The guardian doesn't have a paywall

[–] tomcatt360 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Maybe not, but it still shows this: A screenshot of the Guardian's website with a pop up asking for an optional donation, with the monthly option selected by default.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

That's not a paywall. A paywall is basically a mechanism that locks content if you don't pay.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I should have called it a pay hedge.

[–] tomcatt360 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

My main complaint is that the message is so big, and that it covers so much of the screen.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I dislike sites suggesting a monthly donation my default.

[–] BB69 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Don't wanna.

[–] DM_Me_Boobs 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They do after you read a few articles.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

No they do not, subscription/registration is optional to people that can read.

[–] CADmonkey 6 points 1 year ago

An airtag won't work if its under enough water.