The U.S. Air Force has forward deployed an unknown number of F-22 fifth generation fighters to Kunsan Air Base in South Korea, which is located approximately 178 kilometres south of capital Seoul. This development follows the forward deployment of F-22s near Taiwan on the Japanese island of Okinawa in early April. The aircraft are expected to take part in joint exercises with the South Korean Air Force, which will deploy its F-35A fifth generation fighters that serve as lighter counterparts to the F-22. F-22s have been deployed to Korea on multiple occasions coinciding with high tensions with North Korea, although the balance of power on the peninsula has shifted significant since the Barak Obama administration began to escalate stealth fighter deployments there in the mid-2010s. The fighter’s importance in a Korean war scenario has been reduced significantly by the major deployments of F-35s by the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps as well as by allied Japanese and South Korean forces, with these newer stealth aircraft boasting far superior penetrative capabilities and being capable of deploying higher diameter air to ground ordinance making them ideal for strike missions against North Korean targets. The F-22’s shallow weapons bays and dated avionics, by contrast, seriously limit their value in such roles.
The F-22 has by far the shortest range of any twin engine heavyweight fighter in service worldwide, with its endurance being less than half that of its Chinese rival the J-20 and shorter than that of the much smaller F-35, which has made forward deployments particularly important to ensure an ability to reach its targets. A primary shortcoming of the F-22 on the Korean Peninsula, however, is that the aircraft have particularly high maintenance needs and low availability rates. It is the only American fighter class that spends more time on the ground for each hour in the air than the F-35. This presents particular dangers as North Korean strike capabilities against military bases across South Korea, including Kunsan Air Base, have increased tremendously with the introduction of assets such as the KN-23 and KN-24 ballistic missiles and KN-25 rocket artillery system which were introduced from 2019-2020. Where the F-22 was formerly the only stealth fighter in the region, North Korea’s treaty ally China has deployed multiple squadrons of J-20 fifth generation fighters near the Korean Peninsula, such as the 1st, 172nd and 55th air brigades, with the much newer stealth aircraft much like the F-35 boasting much more modern avionics, sensors and airframe materials than the F-22. Ultimately while the the F-22 formerly represented the U.S. Air Force’s elite, it is currently scheduled for an early retirement with few roles remaining where it can perform better than the newer F-35.