US authorities ask locals for help in finding missing F-35 jet — Authorities say they are searching for the $80m jet around two lakes in the state of South Carolina::Authorities say they are searching for the $80m jet around two lakes in the state of South Carolina.
If your plane crashes over unfriendly territory, you don’t want to make it easier for them to get their hands on it.
Exactly
If you have a beacon? Even an insanely directional connection to a GPS satelite is still going to bounce off clouds and the like.
And a beacon that triggers the moment it crashes? The expected crash location is not The Hardy Boyz Compound. It is Iraq or Russia or China. Every minute we can buy to “dispose of” any of the juicy bits matters.