Four Raptors have deployed to South Korea.
On Feb. 17, four U.S. Air Force F-22 “Raptor” fighter aircraft from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan, deployed to Osan Air Base, in South Korea.
The multi-role stealth fighters were joined by four Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) F-15 Slam Eagles and U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons to perform a “show of force” flyover in the vicinity of the base, in response to recent provocative actions by North Korea: the crisis in the Peninsula deepened this month after Pyongyang, ignoring several international warnings fired a long-range rocket carrying satellite into the space in what world powers consider a prohibited missile test.
On Jan. 10, 2016 in response to the a previous North Korean nuclear test, a U.S. Air Force B-52 from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, performed a low-level flight over Osan Air Base, South Korea escorted by South Korean F-15K Slam Eagle and a U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcon.
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The F-22 is designed to quickly project air dominance and at great distances (as proved by the 2015 deployment in Europe) and can perform a wide variety of missions: for instance, thanks to its advanced sensors they provide “kinetic situational awareness” to other assets in Syria.
Image credit: U.S. Air Force
