A Japanese stealth fighter plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean and there has been no sign of its pilot, according to the country's defence ministry.
The air force F-35 jet plunged from the sky during a night training flight and parts of it have been recovered, the Air Self-Defence Force said.
The pilot, a man aged in his 40s, is missing following the crash on Tuesday.
The aircraft went missing about half an hour after taking off from the Misawa air base with three other F-35As.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known, defence minister Takeshi Iwaya said.
He said 12 other F-35s at the Misawa base would be grounded.
Japan has been deploying the US-made F-35s since last year.
This was part of its plan to bolster its defence spending and weapons capability in coming years, as a plan to counter potential threats from North Korea and China.
Under guidelines approved in December, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government plans to buy 147 F-35s, including 105 F-35As.
The jets cost around costing about 10 billion yen, approximately £68 million, each.
