South Korea to receive first two F-35A Lightning fighter aircraft by March 2019

The Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning, these examples are operated by the Royal Australian Air Force. South Korea is expecting the delivery of 2 similar units by March 2019. Photo c/o  The Australian.

South Korea is expected to receive its first two Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning stealth fighter aircraft by March 2019, while 8 more units will be delivered within the year. It is also expected that the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) will be ready to deploy the the first 2 fighters by April or May 2019.

Pilot from the ROKAF already started flight training with the F-35A since late 2017, and already operate 6 of them for training in Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, USA.

South Korea ordered 40 units of the 5th generation fighter aircraft from Lockheed Martin at a cost of US$6.8 billion in 2014. The first unit rolled out of Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth production line in March 2017.  It is expected that all 40 fighter aircraft will be operational and combat ready before the end of 2021.

The F-35A is expected to boost the ROKAF's fighter fleet, mostly composed of the Boeing F-15K Strike Eagle, Lockheed Martin KF-16 Fighting Falcon, and older models including the McDonnell Douglas F-4D/E Phantom and Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II.



[1] The Hankyoreh
[2] South China Morning Post
[3] The Defence Blog