Posted on 08/18/2004 7:18:25 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
US will send F-15 jets to S. Korea
SEOUL - A squadron of American F-15E fighters based in Alaska will fly to South Korea next month for temporary deployment aimed at enhancing United States firepower on the Korean peninsula.
The US jets will be in South Korea for up to three months of training 'to get accustomed to geographical features of the peninsula', a US military spokesman said yesterday.
'The deployment is part of US military enhancement plans announced earlier,' the spokesman added.
He was apparently referring to US promises to enhance air and sea capabilities to defend South Korea after unveiling plans to slash its number of troops in the South by one-third by next year.
A squadron usually has from 12 to 20 airplanes, and stays 60 to 120 days for training. The two-seat F-15 fighters are used primarily as air-to-ground attack aircraft.
In June, a squadron of US F-117A Stealth fighters arrived in South Korea for training exercises, and those aircraft remain in the area.
About 33,900 US troops are currently stationed in South Korea, after 3,600 left for Iraq last week.
US officials insist that any withdrawal, made as part of a global review designed to produce a more agile fighting force, will not weaken its deterrent against North Korea.
The troop realignment, however, sparked security jitters among South Koreans amid an unresolved showdown with Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons programme.
US ground troops based close to the border with North Korea have served as a guarantee since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War that any invasion of the South would immediately draw in the US.
North Korea has denounced Washington's plan to realign US forces in South Korea as a plot to attack the communist country. -- AFP, AP
Ping!
(steely)
"In June, a squadron of US F-117A Stealth fighters arrived in South Korea for training exercises, and those aircraft remain in the area"
You mean those?
From the article above,
In June, a squadron of US F-117A Stealth fighters arrived in South Korea for training exercises, and those aircraft remain in the area.
I think they are still in S. Korea.
(steely)
Road trip!
This story would be even MORE interesting if the headline had said "N. Korea", don't you think?
;-)
Props to comment ROAD TRIP TO SEOUL
So there is planes there already in South Korea now this stuff
Rack itt
ping
(Adjusts 70s style glasses. Takes afro pick out of perm. Pops in DVD box set version of Showgirls.)
Ahhhhhhh. Much better.
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