South Korea to get its first F-35A stealth fighter jets in March. How will the North react?

The jets and their pilots have been put through their paces at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona

It remains undecided whether South Korea will want to give its new F-35A jets a high-profile welcoming ceremony, for fear of angering the North

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South Korea is among a handful of US allies to buy the jet, including Japan and Australia. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:00pm, 13 Jan 2019Updated: 9:32pm, 13 Jan 2019

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.

A model of a Lockheed Martin F-35 jet with South Korean markings on display in 2013 at the Seoul International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition in Goyang, north of Seoul. Photo: AFP

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.

South Korea approved a deal in September 2014 to acquire 40 F-35As for about 7.3 trillion won (US$6.8 billion).