Six U.S. Air Force F-35s from Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska arrived in South Korea Tuesday and will fly with host country F-35s in a series of exercises ending July 14, the two military officials said.
“This deployment aims to improve interoperability (of our air forces) while demonstrating the alliance’s strong deterrence and common defense posture,” the South Korean Defense Ministry said.
A South Korean spokesman said this is the first time stealth fighters from the two allies have worked together.
Experts say stealth fighters able to evade Pyongyang’s radar would be crucial in any action against North Korea.
The deployment of US fighters is a visible sign of the commitment US President Joe Biden made to his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk Yeol when the two met in Seoul in May.
“In light of the evolving threat from (North Korea), both leaders agree to initiate talks to expand the scale and scope of combined military exercises and drills on and around the Korean Peninsula,” the White House said after the two presidents met. “Both leaders also reaffirm the US commitment to the timely and coordinated deployment of US strategic military assets when required.”
Tensions with North Korea have increased in recent months. Pyongyang has been testing missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads at a record pace, with at least 17 launches this year.
The US military said the American F-35s would operate alongside other US aircraft during their deployment, without giving details.
But working with the South Korean F-35s is the main event.
The F-35 is one of the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world. The US operates hundreds of jets, available in three configurations: the conventional takeoff and landing F-35As flown by the Air Force; the Marine Corps’ F-35Bs, which can land vertically; and the F-35C, configured for aircraft carrier operations.
Like the US Air Force, the South Korean Air Force also flies the F-35A, with its first jet being delivered by manufacturer Lockheed Martin in 2018. Their fleet of 40 fifth generation jets became fully operational this spring.
On March 25, the day after one of the Pyongyang missile tests, Seoul held a “elephant walk” of its F-35 fleet, where the jets were all lined up on a runway at once to show off their might.
“With the F-35A stealth fighters, the invisible force capable of stealth infiltration and precise strikes, we will achieve an overwhelming strategic victory and maintain a complete military posture that will deter further North Korean action,” he said then Defense Minister Suh Wook on an elephant walk.
The last reported deployment of US F-35s in South Korea was in 2017 when they joined F-22 stealth fighters in what was then described as the largest concentration of fifth-generation fighter jets in South Korea.
Those warplanes were part of a massive annual US-South Korea exercise called Vigilant Ace, which was later canceled under the Donald Trump administration when the then-US president tried to trick North Korea’s Kim Jong Un into abandoning his nuclear missile program.
After three meetings between Trump and Kim did not lead to an agreement, North Korea has ramped up its missile program. The US and South Korea fear Pyongyang may soon attempt to test a nuclear weapon, which it has not done since 2017.