$115M US fighter jet crashes in South Carolina.

A US F-35 pilot was forced to eject midair after the $100million fighter jet crashed in South Carolina.

The aircraft was completely destroyed in the crash during a training exercise Friday, officials said.

The crash appears to be the first of its kind for the troubled F-35 program, marking an unfortunate moment for the most expensive plane in history.

Speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement, a defense official told AFP that the Marine Corps F-35 had crashed outside Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in South Carolina.

A US F-35 pilot was forced to eject midair after the $100million fighter jet crashed in South Carolina

 The aircraft was completely destroyed in the crash during a training exercise Friday, officials said, leaving a smoking wreck

'It's a total loss,' the official said.

The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office said the crash was reported about 11:45 a.m. Friday near the Grays Hill community.

The pilot is being checked for injuries. No one on the ground was hurt.  

A military official says the plane is a Marine F-35B fighter jet, capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings, on a routine training mission.  

The crash comes just one day after the US military first used the F-35, which has been beset with delays and cost overruns, in combat. Multiple Marine Corps F-35s struck Taliban targets in Afghanistan.

Launched in the early 1990s, the F-35 program is considered the most expensive weapons system in US history, with an estimated cost of some $400 billion and a goal to produce 2,500 aircraft in the coming years.

The aircraft was completely destroyed in the crash during a training exercise Friday. Pictured; an F-35B Lightning II launches from the flight deck of the USS Essex amphibious assault ship on September 22, 2018

The F-35 was billed as a fighter jet that could do almost everything the U.S. military desired, serving the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy – and even Britain's Royal Air Force and Royal Navy – all in one aircraft design. 

F-35 FACT SHEET 

Role: Stealth multirole fighter

First flight: December 15, 2006

Unit cost (not including engine):

F-35A - $98million

F-35B - $104million

F-35C - $116million

Number built: 115 (as of November 2014)

Length: 15.67m

Wingspan: 10.7m

Height: 4.33m

Max speed (F-35A): 1,930kph