A Royal Air Force (RAF) F-35 Lightning II stealth aircraft was on a routine mission on January 20 when it met with one of the biggest threats faced by aircraft globally. Hit and damaged, the stealth fighter had to return to base immediately.
The RAF F-35 aircraft was flying over north Wales when it suffered a collision that damaged the front part of the jet. The pilot decided to return to base at RAF Marham, Norfolk, where the aircraft managed to land safely. The pilot escaped unscathed from the accident.
The F-35 Lightning II, considered to be one of the best stealth fighter jets in the world, was not hit by an enemy missile; it again collided with a bird and had to make an emergency landing.
Fortunately, the damage was assessed to be “negligible.” An RAF spokesperson said: “An RAF F35 suffered a bird strike and, as a precaution, returned to base where it landed safely. The pilot was fine.”
Air forces around the world frequently encounter the same inescapable threat of bird collisions, leading to consequences ranging from minor inconveniences to major operational disruptions or even crashes. The latest RAF collision is bizarre but not an isolated incident.
In January 2023, an RAF Red Arrow aircraft was severely damaged in a bird strike. The glass in the cockpit was smashed upon collision, sending shards of glass inside the cockpit.
This led to the displacement of the visor on the pilot’s helmet and the cutting off of the oxygen mask. The noise and wind made external communication nearly impossible for the pilot. The brave and skillful pilot, Squadron Leader Gregon Ogston, somehow managed to land and averted a tragedy that could have otherwise claimed his life.
Detecting these ”stealthy’ birds is very tricky, which often leads to accidents. For instance, back in 2022, a South Korean F-35 suffered a bird strike during a routine training mission, following which it had to conduct a belly landing. The aircraft was hit by a big bird—an eagle that weighed about 10 kilograms.
The bird hit the fighter’s left air intake, causing severe damage. The avionics system malfunctioned, and about 300 vital parts, including the airframe, engine, and navigation systems, were disrupted. The damage was so severe that the aircraft could not be salvaged and had to be discarded in 2023.
In a similar incident in 2022, a bird strike led to an engine fire on a Marine Corps F/A-18D, causing the aircraft to crash and explode. Both pilots ejected before the crash and survived with minor injuries.
More recently, in April 2024, a US Marine Corps (USMC) F-35B Lightning II aircraft was struck by a bird shortly after taking off from Kunsan Air Base in South Korea. However, the aircraft suffered significant damage and was listed as a Class A mishap.
The USMC fighters have suffered many similar accidents. For instance, a bird hit damaged an F-35B in Japan in 2019, causing what the Corps initially estimated to be over US$2 million in damage.
Surprisingly, even small birds have been responsible for damaging several big and advanced fighter jets. The USMC has documented almost 1,500 aviation incidents involving bird or animal hits between 2004 and 2019.
Massive Threat To Aircraft
According to the Department of Defense’s Partners in Flight program, which aims to protect migratory and resident birds on DoD lands, the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps record up to 3,000 bird strikes every year, which it refers to as “Bird/Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard” (BASH).
The military, however, can employ a range of techniques to lessen the BASH danger, including habitat clearing, firearm culling, and the deployment of propane-powered sound cannons to drive birds away.
Bird strikes also pose a danger to civil aircraft. The world has witnessed multiple instances of civilian airlines being forced to make an emergency landing after being hit by a bird.
Bird strikes often damage the forward-facing components of the aircraft—the windscreen, nose cone, and engines. However, the extent of the damage depends on the size of the bird and the speed with which it collided.
The biggest threat posed by a bird strike is the bird getting stuck in an airplane’s engine. This is often called bird ingestion and happens only rarely. However, it may result in engine failure. While most aircraft are certified to operate for hours with a single engine, pilots, nevertheless, divert to the closest airfield. In the rarest of rare situations, the aircraft can lose both engines.
Moreover, birds cannot always be avoided due to the high speeds of these aircraft and due to how occupied a pilot is in the cockpit.
The rising numbers of bird strike accidents have established that it does not always take a missile to hit a fighter jet. However, when asked whether a flock of birds could be used by an air force to deliberately attack a hostile aircraft in combat, Indian Air Force veteran and a seasoned military expert, Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retd), said: “This is not feasible because birds have the instinct to save themselves. Instead, a flock of kamikaze drones would be the right choice to overwhelm and attack an adversary fighter since these drones are cheaper, accurate, and ethical.”
The concept of swarm drones aims to integrate and fly a large number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with sensors, weaponry, and communication equipment.
The UAVs can gather inputs, create a full battle picture, and communicate with many users in real-time. If a UAV is shot down or jammed, another UAV could take over its functions. Drone swarms can complete a variety of tasks simultaneously without human supervision. They could carry out kinetic attacks using onboard guns, bombs, or missiles.
As previously explained by Air Marshal Chopra, “A large drone swarm could be flown into an airborne AEW&C or flight refueling aircraft (FRA). A drone swarm positioned on the approach and take-off path could stop all air operations. A similar one flown into the area of combat air patrol would divert the attention of the fighter crew from the primary task.”
These swarms of drones can easily be released by an aircraft during combat. Additionally, several countries have now also developed motherships that could release a swarm of drones while being airborne to attack and overwhelm a hostile aircraft. These drones could turn into missiles upon instruction and directly ram into the fighter, whereas others can either jam the fighter jet or attack it with weapons. The swarm could also include decoy drones to frustrate the enemy.
“Drone swarms are going to be employed in large numbers due to significant advantages. Fractional low costs would allow for the purchase of much larger numbers vis-à-vis manned aircraft numbers. Numbers help overwhelm the adversary. The absence of humans onboard allows the commanders to take higher risks and attempt more daring missions,” Air Marshal Chopra said.
In addition to disrupting combat aircraft operations, these swarms could also hit ground-based targets and conduct Suppression of Air Defense (SEAD) operations. Notably, all modern militaries across the world are developing and testing swarm drones and their utility in Artificial Intelligence-driven combat scenarios.
The future looks more and more grim for manned fighters as they face the twin threat of running into birds in peacetime, and unmanned aerial drones running into them in combat.
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