U.S. Military is Considering Basing Squadron of F-35’s at Kunsan Airbase
It looks like USFK’s airpower could see a signficant increase if this news become reality:
The U.S. military is considering the permanent deployment of advanced F-35A radar-evading fighter jets to South Korea, a source said Sunday.
The deployment, if realized, would mark a major addition to U.S. air assets in South Korea, which consist mostly of older-generation F-16 fighter jets. F-35s have previously only been temporarily deployed for joint training.
“The U.S. military has a concept of permanently deploying F-35As at Kunsan Air Base,” the source said. “It will first deploy one squadron, and there is a possibility of rotationally deploying another squadron.”
A squadron is an Air Force unit made up of around 20 aircraft.
You can read more at the link.
So, what’s the big deal? It was always intended for the F-35 to replace the A-10, AV-8, F-16 and the F-18. The only question is how long will it take.