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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Stealth Fighters to Korea |
| 2004-06-29 |
| The Defense Ministry announced Tuesday that ten U.S. F-117A stealth fighters would be deployed to a U.S. airbase in the southern part of Korea to take part in military training that will last several months. An official with the Ministry said, âOn Wednesday and Thursday, F-117A aircraft will move to Korea from Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico and will engage in military training in Korea for several months.â Hello Norks. Wanna negotiate? This would be the fourth time that stealth fighters have been deployed to Korea since 1993, 1996, and 2003, when those planes participated in U.S.-ROK joint military exercises such as the Foal Eagle (FE) exercise or the Team Spirit (TS) exercise. In that sense, it is quite rare for stealth fighters to be deployed to Korea when large training exercises are not in progress. Sources familiar with the situation said the move has symbolic implications that demonstrate that despite USFK force reductions, U.S. fighting power in Korea would be strengthened. The 10 F-117As to be deployed in Korea represent about 20 percent of all stealth fighter-bombers (55 units) possessed by the U.S. and also the largest number the U.S. has ever deployed to Korea. Cue some Juche-fueled spittle in three, two, one... |
| Posted by:Laurence of the Rats |
| #14 First off size doesnt matter - radar and IR cross section and signatures do. Secondly, look for "penetrating munitions" announcements on the internet from the US. The hard part used to be guiding them in, exactly, and repeatedly. Now we do not have that problem thanks to the improved guidance, and the development of technology that specifically was designed to overcome this sort of fortification. Now fill in the lines between whats public and what is real (and with military technology there is usually a pretty good gap). Also add to that the US surveillance capabilities - to activate these sites they have to eventually produce heat signatures, and those can be detected with the side looking version of FLIR from Recon flights in the area. And my old Dragon Lady pals are probably staying very busy. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2004-06-29 11:15:14 PM |
| #13 ZF, they're fighters when compared to the stealth bomber, the B-2. It's a matter of size and maneuverability. These guys could carry missiles and engage in air-to-air combat, but it would be a waste. Their principal attribute is stealth. We have lots of fighters that can do air to air, but nothing else can go downtown like these guys. The unfortunate thing about them is there just aren't enough of them. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-06-29 9:34:42 PM |
| #12 I'm still not sure why they call these things fighters when all they've ever been used for is strike (i.e. bombing) missions, even in conflicts where the airspace had to be cleared of the enemy. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-06-29 6:16:26 PM |
| #11 Don't think you need to bomb all the buried assets. The only real target in NK is Kim Jong-il. If he and all his progeny were to suddenly disappear, it would be difficult to maintain the cult of personality that is North Korea. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-06-29 5:37:39 PM |
| #10 Lobby your congress-critter for tactical nuke development / authorization ..... |
| Posted by: too true 2004-06-29 4:44:29 PM |
| #9 The NORKS have most of their important Nuke assets in deep underground rooms, and I am sure that the entrances are blast hardened. They will not be the easiest nuts to crack. OldSpook, any words of wisdom on how easily any and all the entrances could be detected and neutralized? I do not know if we have the capability of directly attacking all of the underground chambers holding the goodies. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-06-29 4:08:10 PM |
| #8 KB, we don't really have a fleet of B-52s anymore. There are something less than 100 B-52Hs left in the inventory (94 at last count). All the B-52Ds & Gs were destroyed (wings cut off among other things) as part of the START agreements. As far as bombing the NORKs, We (long, long ago on an island far, far away) used to have target folders for iron bomb sorties against North Korean targets. Rest assured there are much better ways than carpet bombing to destroy these sites and B-52s from Guam could play a part in them. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-06-29 3:31:21 PM |
| #7 KB: What about retaliation on metro Seoul? |
| Posted by: Michael 2004-06-29 2:53:16 PM |
| #6 I hope they're on their way to Korea as part of a plan to attack the North Korean nuclear sites, such as the one at YongByong, or whatever it's called. We should just call in A FLEET of B-52's & just carpet bomb the hell out of their nuclear sites and their medium/long-range missile sites...end of problem. They're successfully blackmailing us. They're making fools out of us. Other rogue states are taking notes...they're watching the manner in which we deal with North Korea. We Must make an example out of them. |
| Posted by: Kentucky Beef 2004-06-29 2:26:42 PM |
| #5 If the US expected something nasty,the F-117s wouldn't be in Korea.Japan,now,that's when to worry.This is PR to show SKs we aren't abandoning them as we draw down troop levels. |
| Posted by: Stephen 2004-06-29 2:04:36 PM |
| #4 In case you were wondering, the Customs Service guys do use black helicopters as well as MP-5s. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-06-29 2:04:31 PM |
| #3 Training, training, training. Sometimes things are exactly as they appear. (Then again, sometimes there really are guys in black helicopters.) |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-06-29 1:21:38 PM |
| #2 Unless we're looking to "make it look like an accident" come Nork test time? |
| Posted by: eLarson 2004-06-29 11:22:44 AM |
| #1 ..U.S. fighting power in Korea would be strengthened. A waste of time, money, and resources. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-06-29 10:48:54 AM |