US-Korea Top Fighter Jets Simulate Aerial Combat Over Korean Peninsula [Yang Nakgyu's Defence Club]

US Air Force F-22 'Raptor'... Returns to Korea After 7 Months

The U.S. Air Force's F-22 "Raptor," regarded as the world's most powerful stealth fighter, conducted joint training with the Republic of Korea Air Force over the Korean Peninsula on the 16th. This marks the first time the F-22 has engaged in simulated air combat with South Korean fighter jets over the Korean Peninsula.

F-22 fighter jet (Photo by Wikipedia)

According to the Air Force on that day, two U.S. Air Force F-22s and two South Korean Air Force F-35A stealth fighters conducted close-range air combat maneuvering training over the Chungcheong region. The training was conducted in a manner where the fighter jets from both countries alternated roles between offense and defense. The jets trained at close distances where the opposing aircraft could be identified with the naked eye, sharing the latest tactics.

Earlier, the U.S. Department of Defense announced via the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) that several U.S. Air Force F-22s from the 19th and 199th Expeditionary Fighter Squadrons landed at Gunsan Air Base in South Korea on the 13th.

According to the U.S. 7th Air Force in Korea, four F-22s landed at the U.S. Air Force base in Gunsan, Jeonbuk, on the 13th. The F-22s deployed to the Korean Peninsula this time belong to the U.S. Pacific Air Forces based at Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii. This is the first public appearance of the F-22 in South Korea in about seven months since the "Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition (ADEX) 2023" held at Seongnam Seoul Airport in October last year. In terms of joint training participation, it has been one year and three months since the F-22 flew in formation with F-35B, F-16CM, and South Korean F-35A fighters over the West Sea in February last year.

The F-22 boasts exceptional stealth capabilities, allowing it to penetrate enemy air defense networks deeply and carry out precision strike missions. It is evaluated to have unmatched performance in all aspects, including stealth and maneuverability. The F-22's top speed exceeds Mach 2.5 (3,060 km/h), with a range of 3,219 km and an operational radius of 2,177 km. If departing from Okinawa, Japan, it can strike North Korea within two hours. The joint training involving stealth fighters, the strategic weapons most feared by North Korea due to its outdated air defense systems, is seen as a demonstration of strong deterrence capabilities against the North.

Separately, the Air Force will conduct the 2024 first half "Soaring Eagle" training at the 17th Fighter Wing in Cheongju from the 17th to the 24th. Hosted by the Air Combat Command, the exercise will involve over 60 aircraft including F-35A and F-15K jets. The training includes defensive support drills responding to enemy fighter and unmanned aerial vehicle intrusions and cruise missile launches, as well as air interdiction drills aimed at preemptively destroying provocation origins such as enemy mobile launchers (TEL) after detecting signs of provocation.

For the first time, the Air Force Operations Command's Space Operations Battalion will also participate in this training. They will monitor enemy electromagnetic interference, share the locations of enemy jamming devices, and support the completion of friendly missions. "Soaring Eagle" has been conducted once or twice annually by the Republic of Korea Air Force alone since 2008. Considering the inter-Korean dialogue atmosphere, it was held privately after 2018 but has been publicly disclosed again since 2022.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.