US Air Force F-22 Raptor aircraft assigned to the 19th and 199th Expeditionary Fighter Squadrons normally based at Joint Base Pearl Harbor, Hawaii but relocated to Japan’s Kadena Air Base recently conducted Agile Combat Employment joint training with Republic Of Korea Air Force’s F-35 Lightning II aircraft. The sessions took place on May 12th 2024 after the F-22 arrived at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea.
Agile Combat Employment (ACE) is part of new US Air Force concept being currently adopted. Significant efforts in testing, training and validation are ongoing throughout the force as it is expected that the ACE concept will help better prepare airmen operating in small group to orchestrate and conduct effective combat operations in various and even austere environments.
At Kunsan Air Base housing the 8th Fighter Wing’s Wolf Packs readily accepted the challenge at hand, locally helping maintain and project the powerful F-22 raptors.
Yet, the presence of the visiting USAF F-22 Raptors captured the public’s attention when two of the fifth generation aircraft were reportedly observed practicing dogfights with Republic of Korea F-35 Lightning IIs, another fifth generation aircraft.
F-22 Raptor vs F-35 Lightning II
While the F-22 Raptor, considered the world’s most potent aerial combat platform (on account of the type forbidden from being operated by countries other than the United States) clearly demonstrate its superiority in air-to-air combat over the F-35. Yet such intense training exercise involving dissimilar capabilities help pilots of aircraft with inferior performance better understand the minutes details likely to help them extract more capabilities from their aircraft.
While both types share advantageous stealthy characteristics, the F-22 benefits from better maneuvering and accelerating capabilities thanks to a configuration integrating thrust-vectoring to two powerful Pratt & Whitney F119 engines. Being fitted with only a single engine does not necessarily make an aircraft inferior in terms of maneuvering as is the case for the F-35. Yet the Lightning II can reclaim key advantages by leveraging its highly powerfurl suite of sensors and the data-sharing capabilities that animate its mission systems. In the right scenario, by being able to share tactical data among themselves through via datalinks, a team of several F-35s can constitue an more formidable threat than anticipated.
The implications in the Korean Peninsula current military standoff
It is safe to claim that F-35 Lightning IIs are currently the world’s most survivable aircraft. Not only because of their stealthy features, which the F-22 Raptor also provide, but also because of the latest generation of sensors that the aircraft mission systems are able to integrate. These sub-systems are thus able to provide a full picture of the battlefield along with the threats environment in real time. This unique sensor-fusion capability is made possible by extremely powerful sensors coupled to unrivaled on-board data processing power. The F-35 mission systems have been designed using an open architecture which helps it be more adaptable and receive upgrades along with added functionality over time. This also includes the ability to integrate information and data provided by sensors outside of the aircraft, whether ground-based or airborne-deployed via a powerful datalink, a technology involving advanced real-time networking capabilities.
Enters North Korean Missiles and Rockets
The South Korean Air Force F-35 Lightning II aircraft of which 39 have been delivered to date seem to be the only platform likely capable to confront North Koreas increasingly larger caliber rocket and ballistic missiles, head-on. In the year 2024, North Korea has multiplied the test firings of rockets and ballistic missiles seemingly growing in capabilities. Whether boasting short range ballistic missiles able to hit targets located between 300 and 1,200 km, monstrous four-tubes Multiple Rocket launchers deploying 600mm rockets or “simulating staging nuclear counter attacks”, North Korea does not allow much sleep to South Korea defense planners these days it seems.
Operationally, the stealth of the F-35 allows it to enter highly defended and contested battlespaces and remain undetected from most radars while its sensors and missions systems pinpoint the geographic location of ground and air-based threats. In all, a F-35 can, at a moments notice, turn from a reconnaissance platform, to a ground attack platform, while being able to sweep the skies from possible enemy fighters.
The Israeli Air Force F-35I have recently demonstrated just that. For instance, days after the October 7th 2023, attacks carried out by Hamas in Israel, the F-35I ‘Adirs’ were able to obtain from the United States Department of Defense, mission data files containing the signatures of threats likely to be encountered in combat. These extremely valuable datasets are likely the results of the massive US Air Force signal intelligence gathering missions conducted around the globe daily and can only find their true sense and value when available to such systems during times of military crisis.
Using the same approach, South Korean F-35s would likely be able to penetrate North Korean airspace undetected in an effort to identify the presence and location of ground-based longest range rockets and missiles systems, before engaging them.
These missions would evidently rely on stealth to help avoid radar detection from North-Korean ground-based stations and air force. It is in that context that, we believe, training with US F-22s has provided the highest value. As it is almost certain that, responding to any significant rampaging foray by South Korean F-35s into North Korean airspace will be met by Chinese Stealthy Chengdu J-20s. China’s indigenous fifth generation stealth aircraft which are reportedly operational in up to 13 brigades of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Air Force and deployed into the Northen Theater surrounding Beijing and bordering North Korea will, with the utmost uncertainty mount large scale operations in order to confront South Korean F-35 over North Korean skies. Given the similarity that Chinese designers of the J-20 have attempted to instill into their aircraft, the F-35 Lightning IIs pilots will not necessarily be at a disadvantage.
(to be continued) The next installment will provide insight into the F-35 Lightning II ability to detect and engage ground-based threats and also compare it against China’s Chengdu J-20 stealthy Fifth generation aircraft