South Korea signs contract with US for 20 more stealth fighter jets

ISTANBUL

South Korea on Wednesday said it has signed a contract with the US to buy an additional 20 stealth fighter jets.

The country's Defense Acquisition Program Administration announced the signing of the contract with US aerospace company Lockheed Martin under which Seoul will get F-35A stealth fighter jets, one of the world's most advanced stealth aircraft.

South Korea’s procurement of additional stealth fighter jets comes amid its efforts “to bolster response capabilities against North Korean military threats,” Seoul-based Yonhap News reported.

It added that the aircraft has “high-performance radar and stealth capabilities, enabling it to carry out long-range strategic strikes without being noticed by the enemy.”

The contract was signed earlier this month and the delivery will begin in 2027.

One of the US’ major allies in the region, the South Korean Air Force currently has 39 F-35A fighter jets procured between 2019 and 2022.

Seoul bought 40 such jets from the US under a 2014 deal. However, one of the jets was damaged last year after colliding with a bird.

In a major setback to its F-35 fighter jet systems, South Korea last year grounded its entire fleet after a malfunction in one of them forced an emergency landing.

The Air Force rushed to splash special foam on the runway at an air base in Seosan, 151 kilometers (94 miles) south of Seoul after the pilot signaled that he was landing the US-made jet on its fuselage (the main body of the jet) rather than ejecting after facing what military officials have called "avionic system issues."

In April 2019, a Japanese Air Force F-35A stealth fighter jet crashed into the Pacific after disappearing from radar during a training mission.

That was the second time an F-35 was lost in an accident.

In Sept. 2018, a US F-35B crashed in Beaufort, South Carolina.