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.
A330 MRTT, a South Korean Air Force first aerial refueling tanker, lands at an Air Force base in Gimhae, about 450km southeast of Seoul, on Nov. 12, 2018. The tanker, built by Airbus Defence and Space, will undergo various tests for about one month before being deployed for its operations. (Yonhap)
This image released by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration on June 29, 2018, shows the design of South Korea’s indigenous fighter jet KF-X program aimed at manufacturing 120 advanced fighter jets to replace the Air Force’s aging F-4 and F-5 combat planes. South Korea plans to complete the design process by Sep. 2019 and produce the first prototype in 2021. (Yonhap)
Condolences to the families of the two ROK pilots killed in this tragic crash:
The debris of the F-15K is scattered on a mountain in Chilgok, North Gyeongsang Province, Thursday. / Yonhap
An Air Force jet crashed into a mountain in Chilgok, North Gyeongsang Province, 216 kilometers southeast of Seoul, Thursday, killing two pilots, the Air Force said.
The military initially said both ejected from the jet safely. No civilian damage was reported. The crash site is close to a golf course.
The crashed jet was an F-15K that was returning to an Air Force base in Daegu after an airstrike exercise. The crash happened at 2:47 p.m. [Korea Times]
Considering that the two pilots did not eject whatever happened, happened extremely fast before they could react and eject. Yonhap News has identified the two pilots as Capt. Choi, aged 29, and 1st Lt. Park, 27. Fortunately no civilians were killed on the ground.
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.
Children climb up the launcher of the surface-to-air guided missile system, Cheongung, during an event at the 18th Fighter Wing in the city of Gangneung on South Korea’s eastern coast on Sept. 21, 2017, to celebrate the first independent sortie that the Air Force made from Gangneung Air Base during the 1950-53 Korean War. (Yonhap)
A Taurus missile fired from an F-15K fighter jet hits the target during the first live-fire drill of the missile in Taean, South Chungcheong Province, on Sept. 13, 2017, in this photo from the Air Force. South Korea is deploying some 170 of these long-range air-to-surface missiles, brought in from Germany, for precision bombing of facilities in North Korea. The missile fired during the drill flew approximately 400 kilometers to reach the target, according to the Air Force. (Yonhap)
A C-130H transport plane of the South Korean Air Force takes off from an air base near the southeastern port of Busan on July 25, 2017, to join a multinational exercise. The Air Force is also sending 30 service members to the inaugural Mobility Guardian training organized by the U.S. Air Mobility Command slated for early August. (Photo courtesy of the Air Force) (Yonhap)
I wonder if the jets have “Dokdo is Our Land” painted on the side of them 😉 :
Six South Korean F-16 jet fighters have made an emergency landing at a U.S. military base in Tokyo after a refueling aircraft malfunctioned, U.S. Forces Japan officials said Thursday.
U.S. Forces Japan spokesman Air Force Lt. Col. Kenneth Hoffman said the aircraft are headed to Alaska to participate in the annual Red Flag exercise.
The emergency landing was forced by “a mechanical issue with an air-to-air refueler that was scheduled to support their movement,” Hoffman said. [Stars & Stripes]
