Tag: F-35

ROK Air Force to Disperse F-35’s from Cheongju to Multiple Airbases

This is the right thing to do considering North Korea’s capability to easily target one airbase with ballistic missiles. Spreading the F-35’s over multiple bases complicates the Kim regime’s targeting:

The South Korean air force plans to disperse its newest fleet of F-35A Lightning II stealth jets throughout the country, rather than at just one base, to better respond to North Korean threats, according to local media. Seoul agreed to purchase the 20 F-35As, expected to be operational by 2027, from the United States for nearly $2.9 billion in December.

It also agreed to buy $271 million worth of munitions for the aircraft that month. The country received its first 40 F-35As from a $7 billion deal in 2019. The new aircraft will be assigned to several, unspecified installations instead of operating out of Cheongju Air Base, which is home to the current F-35 fleet, unnamed officials said in a Yonhap News report Monday.

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link.

U.S. Supreme Court Dismisses British Companies Complaint About F-35 Sale to South Korea

I read the article and still have a hard time understanding what this British company was complaining about; no wonder the case was dismissed:

The top U.S. court has dismissed an appeal case by a British company claiming it was wrongfully excluded during South Korea’s purchase of advanced U.S.-made F-35 fighters, Seoul’s arms procurement agency said Thursday.

The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the appeal Monday in a case that South Korea has argued is beyond the jurisdiction of U.S. courts as the transaction was one between governments, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).

In December 2020, Blenheim Capital sued the South Korean government, Lockheed Martin, the F-35’s manufacturer, and others, claiming it was excluded from the transaction as the broker of an offset program connected to the deal and sought US$500 million in damages, DAPA said.

High-cost military contracts between countries usually involve offset programs, where a buyer receives other goods or technologies in return for the deal. Seoul’s F-35 purchase included an offset program involving a military satellite capable of integrating with the jets.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

South Korea Looks to Repair F-35 that Crashed Due to a Bird Strike

You would think the landing gear would be a bit more robust to withstand a bird strike:

A collision with an eagle caused a South Korean F-35A Lightning II fighter to crash last year, and talks are underway with the manufacturer over scrapping or repairing the stealth aircraft, the South Korean air force said Tuesday. 

An investigation determined the bird struck the F-35A’s landing gear, which failed, forcing the pilot to make an emergency belly landing Jan. 4, 2022, at a South Korean air force base in Seosan, about 50 miles southwest of Seoul, according to an air force email Tuesday. 

The pilot exited the plane without serious injuries, according to the air force.

South Korea’s air force and Lockheed Martin, the F-35 manufacturer, assessed the damaged aircraft to determine whether repairs would prove too costly or compromise the fighter’s safe operation.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but the ROK bought 40 F-35A’s at $175 million a piece.

ROK Government Interested in Purchasing F-35B Fighter Jets

There are claims being made that the Trump administration is pressuring the Blue House to buy F-35B’s:

An F-35A stealth fighter is seen at an Air Force base in Daegu on Oct. 1. [YONHAP]

Shortly after the Korea-U.S. presidential summit in April, the Blue House asked the military to consider the possible procurement of F-35Bs, a more expensive version of the stealth fighter jets Korea earlier purchased, an opposition lawmaker told the JoongAng Ilbo on Wednesday.

Rep. Baek Seung-joo of the Liberty Korea Party, who once served as vice defense minister, said the National Security Office of the Blue House discussed the purchase plan with an Air Force official on April 18. The summit between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump took place on April 11 in Washington. 

In 2014, the Air Force finalized the first phase of a next-generation fighter jet project and confirmed the purchase of 40 F-35As, the most common version of the fighter jet built by Lockheed Martin. The deliveries are scheduled to be completed in 2021. 

The second phase of the project will start in 2021. The military is to spend a total of 4 trillion won ($3.35 billion) for five years to purchase 20 additional stealth fighter jets. Speculation was high in the military that Korea would buy more F-35As. 

Although F-35Bs have short takeoff and vertical landing features, which would allow deployment on a light aircraft carrier Korea is planning to build starting next year, military sources said the Air Force prefers F35-As. They said F-35Bs have limited weapons capabilities, operational scope and mobility compared to F-35As. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but I think the fact that the Japanese announced in August they were buying F-35B’s to put on their helicopter carriers is the more likely reason. This could just simply be a case of keeping up with the Jones’s.

North Korea Threatens South Korea Over Deployment of F-35’s

Notice the Kim regime is not making threats against President Trump, but continuously make attacks against the Moon administration:

In this March 29, 2019, photo, a U.S. F-35A fighter jet prepares to land at Chungju Air Base in Chungju, South Korea. North Korea on Thursday, July 11, 2019, slammed South Korea for introducing high-tech U.S. stealth fighters, warning that it will respond by developing unspecified special weapons. 

North Korea slammed South Korea over its ongoing deployment of high-tech U.S. fighter jets, warning Thursday that it will respond by developing and testing unspecified special weapons of its own to “destroy” the aircraft.

The statement, which also urged South Korea to abandon its “preposterous illusions” for improved ties, comes as Seoul has expressed hopes that a recent summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will help revive dialogue between the Koreas.

Under its biggest-ever weapons purchase, South Korea is to buy 40 F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin by 2021. The first two arrived in March and two others are to be delivered in coming weeks, according to Seoul officials.

The project was announced in 2014 to cope with then rising military threats from North Korea, which was conducting an unusually large number of weapons tests. Animosities have gradually eased since last year when Pyongyang and Washington launched nuclear negotiations, but Seoul has been moving ahead with its already-approved F-35 procurement.

Associated Press

You can read more at the link, but it is arguable that the disrespect towards the Moon administration by the Kim regime is because they know they can get away with it. It is easy domestic propaganda for them with no risk of retaliation from the Moon administration.

Japanese F-35 Crashes In Pacific Ocean East of Misawa Airbase

It did not take long for the Japanese to crash one of their F-35’s:

 Search and rescue teams found wreckage from a crashed Japanese F-35 stealth fighter in the Pacific Ocean close to northern Japan, as efforts to find the missing pilot continued, authorities said on Wednesday.

The aircraft, less than one-year-old, was the first F-35 to be assembled in Japan and was aloft for only 28 minutes on Tuesday before contact was lost, a defense official said. The plane had logged a total of 280 hours in the air since its first flight, he added. 
It is only the second F-35 to crash in the two-decades it has been flying and could reignite concern about the F-35 having only one engine.

Reuters

You can read more at the link, but hopefully they are able to recover the pilot. It will be interesting to see what the cause of the crash is because this was pretty much a brand new aircraft with only 280 flight hours.

First F-35 Fighter Jets to Arrive in South Korea this Spring

I wonder how long it will be before these F-35’s are in a photo op flying over Dokdo?:

South Korea will acquire two stealth fighters from the United States in late March, allowing the country to fly the latest fifth-generation aircraft in the world, sources said Sunday.

The two F-35A jets will arrive in Seoul, and they will likely be assigned to combat units that defend the country starting in April or May, several insiders familiar with the matter said.

South Korea has agreed to purchase 40 F-35As in a 2014 contract. The jets are designed to evade detection and have the latest electronics suite that can allow them to be effective even in well defended airspace. A single plane is reportedly priced at around 120 billion won (US$107.5 million). Korea may buy 20 additional F-35s as the Air Force has requested more assets.

Korea Times via a reader tip

You can read more at the link.

South Korea Cancels Participation in F-35A Handover Ceremony

 

Another example of a concession made to North Korea without the Kim regime even asking:

The military is toning down a handover ceremony for a batch of new F-35A state-of-the-art fighters from the U.S. as an inter-Korean summit looms. The jets, which cost W7.3 trillion, are intended to counter the nuclear and missile threat from North Korea (US$1=W1,067).

The event will be held at the Lockheed Martin plant in Fort Worth, Texas on March 28. Air Force Chief of Staff Lee Wang-keun and Jeon Jei-guk, the chief of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, both abruptly canceled plans to attend.

“Neither can attend the ceremony,” a military spokesman said. “Lee must stay in the country to maintain military preparedness while [President Moon Jae-in] is on an overseas trip, and Jeon will accompany the president.”  [Chosun Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but you would at least think the ROK government would be honest and just say no one is attending in order to not upset North Korea instead of the cover story they are using.

By the way Seoul has bought 40 of the F-35A’s at a cost of 120 billion won a piece.

Japan Considering Purchasing F-35B’s to Field on Their Helicopter Carriers

If anyone is wondering why Korea is considering the purchase of F-35B’s to field on their helicopter carriers here is your answer, keeping up with the Abe’s:

Japan’s Maritime Self Defense Forces helicopter carrier Izumo sails out its Yokosuka Base in Kanagawa prefecture on May 1, 2017. Picture: AFPSource:AFP

In what could be a major change in Japan’s policy on aircraft carriers, the Defense Ministry is mulling a plan to buy F-35B stealth fighter jets for use on its helicopter carriers, government sources said.

The introduction of F-35Bs, which have short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) capability, will be useful in countering China’s growing maritime assertiveness. They are expected to bolster Japan’s ability to defend far-flung islands in the southwest, where only short runways exist, the sources said Sunday.

The move, however, is likely to trigger a backlash from China and Japan’s other neighbors because it could be viewed as contradicting Japan’s so-called “exclusively defense-oriented policy” under the pacifist Constitution.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government has altered the nation’s postwar security policy over the past few years, most notably through new security laws that largely expand the range of activities permissible by the Self-Defense Forces.

Under its strictly defense-oriented policy, Japan has maintained that it cannot possess “attack aircraft carriers,” saying the vessels can be deemed offensive weapons that exceed the minimum capacity Japan needs for self-defense in light of the Constitution.

The Maritime Self-Defense Force has a fleet of flat-topped destroyers known as helicopter carriers. Its largest Izumo-class carriers are 248 meters long and can carry up to 14 helicopters.

F-35Bs can operate from existing helicopter carriers once modifications are made to the bow, deck and other areas, the sources said. These modifications will allow destroyers, new or old, to function as small aircraft carriers.  [Japan Times]

You can read more at the link.