South China Morning Post:
South Korea will receive its first F-35A stealth fighters in March, a milestone in the country’s effort to boost its defence capabilities despite a diplomatic thaw with its nuclear-armed neighbour North Korea.
A South Korean military official said the first two jets would be “combat-deployed in April or May” and that 10 jets would be ready for deployment by the end of this year.
The jets and their pilots have been put through their paces at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, a training facility for the state-of-the-art jet fighter.
South Korea is among a handful of US allies to buy the jet, including Japan and Australia. However the jet programme, which launched in 2001, has been plagued by cost overruns and technical problems.
