Multiple lightning strikes on the same day!, Three US fighter jets stationed in Japan
According to US media reports on July 7th, US military officials confirmed that on June 6th, three EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft were hit by lightning while carrying out missions in southern Japan.
Lieutenant Brian Blair, spokesperson for the US Navy Aviation Corps, stated in an email, "No one was injured and all aircraft landed safely at the Kadena Air Force Base. Navy crew and ground support personnel have received training to respond to these situations and have followed all procedures as instructed by the US Navy."
Blair stated that lightning strikes on naval aircraft are "not common, but sometimes occur when weather conditions do not match predictions.". Between 2020 and 2022, an average of 12 lightning strikes involving naval aircraft occurred annually, and 7 such lightning strikes have occurred so far in 2023.
US military officials have not yet confirmed the condition of the military aircraft involved, but the Naval Security Command has classified the lightning strike as an "A-level accident", which means a loss of over $2.5 million or complete damage. But all three attacks were listed under one accident item, so it is not yet clear whether the damage was to a single aircraft or the total number.
Due to the fact that lightning strikes are not uncommon, modern fighter jets have adopted many defensive measures, but the US military has still suffered losses from lightning strikes before.
In 2021, two F-35B stealth fighter jets of the US Marine Corps were also struck by lightning in Japan. After the investigation, it was found that there was a problem with the airborne inert gas generation system of the F-35. Originally, the system was responsible for injecting nitrogen rich air into the internal fuel tank of the fighter to avoid ignition or explosion, but the existence of this defect once restricted the F-35 from flying into thunderstorms or near lightning clouds.