The Pentagon is considering permanently stationing F-35s in South Korea to increase security against North Korea and China and deepen joint airpower with South Korea’s growing fleet.
The United States Air Force has been rotating various fighter jets to South Korea in recent years, but the Pentagon is now exploring an option to permanently station the fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II at Kunsan Air Base to increase its deterrence against North Korea and counter China’s growing ambitions in the region.
According to a report from The Korean Herald, it could begin with a single squadron of U.S. Air Force F-35s, with other squadrons rotationally deployed to the U.S.-allied nation. This would significantly increase the capabilities, as the U.S. Air Force assets currently consist of older-generation F-16 Fighting Falcons, with F-15Es, F-22s, and F-35s only temporarily deployed for joint training exercises.
Last July, the U.S. Seventh Air Force announced it would create an F-16 “Super Squadron” at Osan Air Base by adding nine fighters from Kunsan. The temporary one-year shift tested combat capabilities while increasing readiness and evaluating the impact on maintenance, manpower, and logistics.
While Kunsan retained thirteen F-15s, which continued routine training, it was announced last week that the remaining Fighting Falcons would move to Osan to create a second Super Squadron. Osan Air Base will house sixty-two of the multirole fighters.
An unnamed source told The Korean Herald that Kunsan will now operate as a “primary exercise and rotational force bed-down location” for the U.S. Air Force’s component of U.S. forces in South Korea.
Osan is located approximately eighty kilometers from the DMZ.
In addition, the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF) is considering stationing twenty of its F-35As at Kunsan beginning in 2027, when the aircraft arrive. That would allow the U.S. Air Force and RoKAF Lightning IIs to operate jointly from the same base.
“Kunsan exemplifies readiness in the Indo-Pacific. Our airmen here at the Wolf Pack demonstrate daily what it means to be forward-deployed and ready to fight tonight,” Col. Peter Kasarskis, commander of the 8th Fighter Wing, told The Korean Times.
South Korea’s F-35: Component of the “Kill Chain Strategy”
The RoKAF’s 151st and 152nd Combat Flight Squadrons operate thirty-nine F-35As, based at Cheongju Air Base in the North Chungcheong Province.
The initial program of record called for forty conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variants of the Joint Strike Fighter. At the same time, it has been expanded by an additional twenty aircraft. After completing its FX-III fighter acquisition, Seoul announced it would adopt the F-35A in 2014.
Four years later, in 2018, the RoKAF received its first Lightning II, which was delivered to Luke Air Force Base (AFB), Arizona, for initial pilot training. The first F-35As arrived at Cheongju Air Base in 2019.
“The additional fighter jets to be procured under the second phase of the F-35A program will be deployed to defend the Republic of Korea effectively,” a RoKAF spokesperson told The Korean Times. “We cannot disclose detailed plans regarding deploying key assets.”
The South Korean news outlet noted that the fifth-gen stealth fighter “forms a key component of South Korea’s so-called Kill Chain strategy aimed at preemptively neutralizing North Korea’s nuclear and missile assets.”
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed over 3,200 published pieces to more than four dozen magazines and websites over a thirty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].
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