America shows off its massive fighter jets
Soaring off the deck of a 40,000-ton amphibious assault ship, F-35B fighter jets soared into the Pacific Ocean near Japan's Okinawa Island.
CNN described it as a show of force by the US military, showing off the country's newest and most expensive fighter jets, a week before the start of annual military exercises with South Korea.
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| An F-35B performs a vertical landing on the deck of the USS Wasp. (Photo: CNN) |
This year's joint exercises come despite heightened sensitivity, as diplomats are trying to arrange a summit between the two Koreas, and a face-to-face meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The F-35B Lightning II fighter jets, equipped with stealth technology to avoid radar and detection, have just had their first sea deployment aboard the USS Wasp. The aircraft carrier will participate in joint US-South Korea exercises starting April 1.
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| An F-35B lands on the deck of the USS Wasp. (Photo: CNN) |
According to CNN, the F-35Bs are seen as the US's main advantage in any contingency involving North Korea, as Pyongyang's radar cannot detect them.
The F-35B is one of three variants of the F-35 and the only one capable of vertical landings like a helicopter. It can also take off in a narrower space than other fighters. This is why the F-35B can operate from the USS Wasp, a warship that is half the size of other 100,000-ton US aircraft carriers.
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| An F-35B in the hangar of the USS Wasp. (Photo: CNN) |
From the hangar of the USS Wasp, F-35B pilot Robert Reddy praised the F-35B as a very special multi-mission aircraft, capable of air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and electronic warfare. "All in one aircraft, flown by one person," Reddy said.
The F-35 stealth fighter jets have been sold around the world, to countries including Britain, Japan and Israel. South Korea has ordered 40 F-35As – a move that has angered North Korea, which in a March 25 article in the KCNA news agency called “a dangerous act that runs counter to the atmosphere of reconciliation and unity between the two Koreas”.
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| Photo: CNN |
The USS Wasp, equipped with F-35B aircraft, will participate in joint exercises with South Korea in April. The exercises, called "Foal Eagle" and "Key Resolve," will start on the first and end at the end of the month, not lasting two months like last year.