US, South Korea fly F-35s in joint military exercise

Six US Air Force F-35 s from Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska arrived in South Korea on Tuesday and will fly with F-35 s from the host nation in a series of exercises ending July 14, the two militaries said.

The South Korean Defense Ministry said that the deployment was intended to enhance the interoperability of our air forces while showing the strong deterrence and joint defense posture of the alliance.

A South Korean spokesman said this was the first time stealth fighters from the two allies have worked together.

Experts say stealth fighters able to evade Pyongyang's radars would be vital in any action against North Korea.

A US Air Force F-35 fighter jet from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska arrives in South Korea to conduct flight operations on Tuesday. The deployment of the US fighters is a sign of the commitment of US President Joe Biden to his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk Yeol, when the two met in Seoul in May. The White House said after the two presidents met on the threat posed by North Korea, both leaders agreed to initiate discussions to expand the scope and scale of combined military exercises and training on and around the Korean Peninsula. Both leaders reaffirm the commitment of the US to deploy strategic U.S. military assets in a timely and coordinated manner. In the last few months, tensions with North Korea have been increasing. Pyongyang has been testing missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads at a record pace, with 17 launches this year. The US military said that the American F-35 s would operate alongside other US aircraft during their deployment, without giving specifics. The main event is working with the South Korean F-35 s. The F-35 is one of the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world. The US operates hundreds of jets in three configurations, the conventional take-off and landing F-35 As, flown by the Air Force, the Marine Corps' F-35 Bs, which can land vertically, and the F-35 C, configured for aircraft carrier operations. Like the US Air Force, the South Korean Air Force flies the F-35 A with its first jet delivered by the manufacturer Lockheed Martin in 2018. Its fleet of 40 of the fifth-generation jets became fully operational this spring. On March 25, a day after one of Pyongyang's missile tests, Seoul staged an elephant walk of its F-35 fleet, lining up the jets all at once on a runway in a display of power. Using the F-35 A stealth fighters, the invisible force capable of stealth infiltration and precise strike, we will achieve an overwhelming strategic victory and maintain a full military posture that will deter further actions by North Korea, then-Defense Minister Suh Wook said during the elephant walk. The last reported deployment of US F-35 s to South Korea came in 2017, when they joined F- 22 stealth fighters in what was described as the largest concentration of fifth-generation fighter jets in South Korea. The warplanes were part of a massive annual US-South Korea exercise called Vigilant Ace, which was later canceled by the Donald Trump administration as the US President tried to entice North Korea's Kim Jong Un to give up his nuclear weapons programs. After three meetings between Trump and Kim failed to reach an agreement, North Korea has ramped up its missile program. The US and South Korea fear that Pyongyang may try to test a nuclear weapon soon, something it has not done since 2017.