F-35A Fighters to Be Deployed Across Multiple Bases to Avoid North Korea’s Missiles

The South Korean military is pushing for a dispersed deployment to enhance the survivability of the fifth-generation F-35A stealth fighters. In a contingency, this key strategic asset would be North Korea’s primary missile target.

As of Monday, the South Korean Air Force has begun preliminary work to redistribute the deployment of F-35As across multiple bases.

Currently, all F-35As are stationed at Cheongju Air Base, home to the 17th Fighter Wing. Since their initial arrival in March 2019, 40 F-35As have been delivered to South Korea. Following the retirement of one aircraft in 2022 due to a hard landing, 39 remain operational.

In 2023, the South Korean military finalized plans to procure an additional 20 F-35As at an estimated cost of approximately $26.7 billion. The initial units from this second batch are expected to arrive in South Korea as early as 2026.

The military plans to station the second batch at bases other than Cheongju Air Base. This decision reflects the judgment that concentrating 59 F-35As at a single location is not optimal.

The F-35A serves as a core component of South Korea’s Kill-Chain system, designed to preemptively strike key North Korean targets such as nuclear and missile launch systems. Its objectives include mobile targets like transporter erector launchers (TEL).

In the event of North Korea deploying nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), the F-35A will also play a key role in the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR) strategy, targeting North Korean leadership with its stealth infiltration and precision strike capabilities that surpass North Korea’s air defense detection systems.

Given its critical role in neutralizing strategic targets, the military plans to enhance the operational stability and efficiency of the F-35A fleet through dispersed deployment rather than concentrating them all at Cheongju.

The need for dispersed deployment has become more pressing as North Korea has recently signaled its intent to prioritize strikes on South Korean air bases in the event of hostilities, aiming to counter the South’s superior air power. In October 2022, North Korea disclosed that it had conducted a concentrated artillery drill simulating strikes on enemy operational airfields. The term operational airfields refers to South Korean air bases.

In February 2023, North Korea launched its 600mm super-large multiple rocket launchers (SRBMs). It claimed they were tactical nuclear strike weapons powerful enough to allocate four rounds per enemy operational airfield. At the time, one missile launched from Sukcheon in South Pyongan Province flew approximately 337 kilometers, interpreted as a simulated strike on Cheongju Air Base, located 340 kilometers away from Sukcheon.

In March 2023, North Korea again claimed to have inspected the combat readiness of a military unit responsible for attacking enemy operational airfields on the western front. It publicly launched six new tactical guided missiles (SRBMs). This western front explicitly includes Cheongju Air Base.

Given that South Korean air bases, especially Cheongju Air Base, are consistent targets for North Korea, the military’s move to disperse the F-35A fleet appears to be a precautionary measure. For security reasons, the military has not disclosed where the F-35As will be relocated. However, speculation suggests that a specific base in the central region is a strong candidate, considering factors such as the current distribution of forces at air bases nationwide, operational concepts, distance from North Korea, and the primary missions of the F-35A during contingencies.