First U.S.-S.Korea Joint Drills Involving Respective F-35A Jets

The United States and South Korea are holding their first combined air drills involving their respective F-35A stealth jets.

Some 30 aircraft including South Korea's F-35A, F-15K, KF-16 and FA-50 jets, as well as American F-35A and F-16 jets took part in the four-day drills that kicked off on July 11. Six U.S. F-35As arrived in South Korea last week to join the drills in the first public deployment of America's stealth warplanes here since December 2017 when the allies had staged their regular Vigilant Ace training.

Also read: New F-35A Jets for South Korea on the Cards

Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) said the “drills have been arranged to improve combined operational capabilities of the two countries through real-life training and strengthen the interoperability of the fifth-generation F-35As run by the countries.”

The air drills marked the first combined training involving the allies' respective F-35As since Seoul completed the deployment of all 40 F-35As in January.

The joint training entailed various maneuvers, including defensive counter-air operations and emergency air interdiction.