US to deploy F-35 at Kadena airbase, Okinawa

[Korean]

U.S. to deploy F-35 stealth fighters to Kadena base in Okinawa

U.S. to deploy F-35 stealth fighters to Kadena base in Okinawa
WASHINGTON (Kyodo) -- U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Wednesday the Pentagon plans to deploy F-35 stealth fighters to the Air Forces' Kadena10+件 base in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture.

"We've already deployed the F-22s to Kadena10+件, the Air Force base in Japan. And we will deploy the F-35 joint strike fighter to this region," Carter said at a think tank forum in Washington.

The senior Defense Department official did not reveal the details such as the timing and the number of the fighters to be deployed.

 

[Tshering22]

U.S. to deploy F-35 stealth fighters to Kadena base in Okinawa

They would probably be kept mixed with Japanese F-35s so as to keep the ambiguity of any perceived threat of Japan guessing as to whose aircraft they try to destroy.

BTW how come you Koreans didn't plan for F-35s?

I mean your F-16s are getting old and that needs a replacement, The KFX in my limited knowledge, will be something like F-15s; a "high end" fighter right?

Then what about the "low end" replacement?

Any plans to get JSFs?

 

[OrionHunter]

Not before 2015. The F-35 is far from airworthy at present. There are still a host of problems that need debugging, ranging from avionics to recurring hardware malfunctions.

An expensive toy that's hanging on for dear life. After all, almost 1000 contractors and sub contractors with thousands of employees have a stake in it and can't afford to let it sink, never mind the extra billions being poured into it.

 

[veekysingh]

isnt americans also talking too much? f-35 is still not in production stage and will not befor 2015 , and i dont think they will deploy very first SP's f-35s overseas.

 

[Korean]

BTW how come you Koreans didn't plan for F-35s?

1. ROKAF despises single engine jets.
2. Korea can better fend off the US pressure than Japan could.
3. Arms purchase process is well shielded from the US pressure.
4. Due to heavy parallel arms development and procurement activities, there is no money to go over the budget. The ceiling is set at $8 billion for 60 units and the purchase will be made at the maximum of $8 billion, budget overrun is not tolerated.

The KFX in my limited knowledge, will be something like F-15s; a "high end" fighter right?

The KFX is a Super Hornet sized jet longer than the F-35. In fact, there will be a run-off competition between the KFX and the heavily modified Super Hornet based on presumed FX contest winner Boeing(Silent Eagle)'s proposal next year. What Boeing's claiming is that they could meet the ROKAF's requirement for an all-aspect 0.01 m2 RCS supercruise jet with a re-developed Super Hornet at a lower cost instead of starting from scratch.

Then what about the "low end" replacement?

Drones.

Any plans to get JSFs?

The F-35 introduction causes a lot of problems, mainly the fact that its maintenance depot will be in Japan and the ROKAF F-35s would have to fly to Japan to be serviced, an unacceptable proposition.

Then there is the ROKAF's aversion of single engine jets, because they don't have many places to ditch the jet due to high population density and would prefer to fly back home or at least fly long enough to ditch the jet over the sea in case of an engine trouble. Several F-16 pilots, including USAF F-16 pilots, could not eject in time as they held on to the stick to avoid crash landing in civilian areas.