Korea-U.S. air drill to involve 240 aircraft

F-35A stealth fighters from both the South Korean and U.S. militaries fly in formation during the allies' first joint exercise involving the fighter on Oct. 11. [NEWS1]

South Korea and the United States will conduct a large-scale combined air exercise involving 240 aircraft, including their F-35A and F-35B stealth jets.

According to Seoul’s defense ministry Tuesday, the joint exercise will take place in South Korean airspace from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4.

One hundred U.S. aircraft, which will include F-35B stealth fighters and F-16 fighters, are expected to join 140 South Korean Air Force jets including F-35A, F-15K and KF-16 fighters.

The exercise will be joined for the first time by Australia, which will send a refueling tanker, which the Defense Ministry said was a sign of the three countries’ shared values and cooperation in regional defense.

“This exercise aims to enhance interoperability between the air forces of South Korea and the United States, and to increase the combat effectiveness of our two countries,” Air Force Col. Choi Youn-seok said during a press briefing at the Defense Ministry in Yongsan District, central Seoul.

The annual exercise — formerly known as Vigilant Ace — was cancelled in both 2018 and 2019, then revived in a significantly scaled-down version under President Moon Jae-in, who sought détente with North Korea.

The 2020 and 2021 exercises respectively featured 150 and 200 aircraft, although the South Korean military did not disclose the number of participating aircraft in those years.

This year’s exercise marks the first time in five years that U.S. F-35B stealth fighters, usually stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni, Japan, will be deployed to South Korea.

The F-35B is a short takeoff and vertical landing variant of the F-35A stealth fighter.

The joint air exercise comes at a time of heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, with Seoul’s spy agency reporting that Pyongyang will likely conduct its seventh nuclear test sometime between the end of the Chinese Communist Party’s congress on Oct. 22 and the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 8.

North Korea has conducted nine missile launches between Sept. 25 and Oct. 14, with Friday’s exercise involving the launch of a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) into the East Sea and about 170 artillery shots into maritime buffer zones after more than 10 North Korean warplanes took part in a flight close to the inter-Korean border.

The South Korean Air Force deployed its F-35 stealth fighters and other military equipment to the scene, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Such shows of air power by the North Korean military are normally rare but have occurred more often recently.

South Korean military authorities belatedly disclosed on Oct. 10 that the North Korean military flew 150 fighter jets close to the inter-Korean border two days before, leading the South to scramble F-35A stealth fighters in response.

The North Korean air force exercise was confirmed by Pyongyang’s state-controlled Korean Central News Agency, which said the regime conducted missile launches and an “unprecedented” air force drill in response to the presence of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan in the East Sea for joint naval exercises with South Korea at the end of last month.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]