Vigilant Storm exercise features Korean, U.S., Aussie planes

An F-35A stealth fighter from the South Korean Air Force takes off from Cheongju Air Base in North Chungcheong on Monday. [KIM SEONG-TAE]

South Korea and the United States started a large joint air exercise on Monday, mobilizing more than 240 aircraft including advanced stealth fighters and electronic warfare aircraft, Seoul’s defense officials said.

It marked the full return of the exercise, dubbed Vigilant Storm, after a five-year hiatus under the Moon Jae-in administration, which suspended the drill to pursue rapprochement with North Korea.

The exercise, scheduled to run until Friday over South Korean airspace, comes amid concerns that the North Korean regime could soon carry out a nuclear test.

Other possible responses by Pyongyang to the drill could include large-scale sorties by its own air force, or the firing of ballistic missiles or artillery shells.

According to Seoul’s defense ministry, South Korea is mobilizing 140 planes, including F-35A stealth fighters, F-15K jets and KF-16 jets, while the U.S. has sent 100 aircraft, including F-35B stealth fighters based in Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, EA-18 electronic warfare aircraft, KC-135 tankers and the U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft.

The allies are scheduled to conduct more than 1,600 sorties during the exercise, which is being coordinated by the Korean Air and Space Operations Center to enhance the two air forces’ joint operational capabilities.

According to the U.S. Air Force, the allies “will work together with the joint services to perform major air missions such as close air support, defensive counter air, and emergency air operations 24 hours a day during the training period," adding that "support forces on the ground will also train their base defense procedures and survivability in case of attack.”

The Royal Australian Air Force is also participating in the exercise and has deployed a KC -30A multi-role tanker transport plane.

The previous iteration of Vigilant Storm, named Vigilant Ace, was launched by South Korea and the United States as a combined air force training program in 2015.

It was held annually until 2017, when the Moon administration suspended it along with other joint exercises to avoid angering Pyongyang.

South Korea and the United States also staged a joint maritime exercise in late September that saw the deployment of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan to the East Sea and the nuclear-powered submarine USS Annapolis to bolster the two countries’ naval readiness, and particularly their submarine-tracking abilities.

On Friday, the South Korean military also completed its Hoguk-22 field exercise, which lasted 12 days and practiced mock amphibious landings and river crossings. Some of the Hoguk drills also involved U.S. forces.

Joint exercises by the South Korean and U.S. militaries have long been condemned by North Korea. Pyongyang issued a statement on its official government website on Saturday claiming the joint air exercise by the United States and South Korea is a rehearsal for invading North Korea.

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