Freedom Shield 25 is focused on combined operations in a join all-domain environment, demonstrating the readiness of U.S. and ROK forces and allowing to refine the plans for Agile Combat Employment.
The U.S. Air Force announced on Mar. 14, 2025, the air component of the massive annual Freedom Shield combined arms exercise with the South Korean military, which commenced on Mar. 10 and will conclude by Mar. 21. The highlight of the exercise were the U.S Air Force, U.S. Navy and ROKAF (Republic of Korea Air Force) F-35s flying together and American Lightning IIs operating from South Korean soil.
An image released by the ROKAF on Mar. 13, 2025, showed five F-35 Lightning IIs flying over the USS Carl C. Vinson. A U.S. Air Force press release on Mar. 14 identified the formation as being led by an F-35C from Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA 97), accompanied by two USAF F-35As from the 134th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron and two ROKAF F-35s from the 17th Fighter Wing.
The carrier is seen with FA-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes and F-35Cs on the upper deck, with one of the E-2Ds being readied on the catapult. These aircraft are part of Carrier Air Wing (CVW-2).
Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1 participated in Freedom Shield 25, a defense-oriented, annual exercise between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States, March 13.
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📸 by MC3 Nate Jordan#USNavy | #AlliesAndPartners pic.twitter.com/ROZgLkI4Ph
— 7th Fleet (@US7thFleet) March 15, 2025
The five jets conducted “combined operations” to “seamlessly integrate air, ground and maritime operations,” representing the joint, all-domain goals of FS25 meant to respond to “ground, air, naval, space and cyber elements.”
The participation of naval aircraft from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson “brought a critical maritime element to the live-fly events of the exercise, enabling the full rehearsal of air component assets to achieve combatant commander priorities,” said the press release.
Air component
Prior to the joint training event, the ROKAF and USAF F-35As “participated in dynamic targeting and aerial refueling training, validating the capability of ROK and U.S. Air Forces, to find, fix, and defeat a range of threats,” the statement added. However, neither side released images covering this part of the drills.
“Rehearsing combat operations with ROKAF, USAF, and United States Navy fifth generation aircraft demonstrates the unmatched, high level of readiness and capability,” said the Seventh Air Force commander, Lt. Gen. David Iverson, in the press release.
In an earlier statement on Mar. 10, the Seventh Air Force identified the participating aircraft. These were USAF and ROKAF F-35A; USN F-35C; South Korean and American KF-16, F-16 Fighting Falcons; A-10 Warthogs; MQ-9 Reapers; MC-130J Commando IIs; CV-22 Ospreys; ROKAF F-15K Slam Eagles; FA-50 Golden Eagles; KC-330; C-130 Hercules; CASA CN-235; HH-60 Pave Hawk; CH-47 Chinook; and HH-32, integrating for several live-fly exercises.
Fourth and fifth generation aircraft will integrate throughout the exercise and “focus on complex scenarios” for “sustained, continuous air operations, enhancing interoperability between ROK and U.S. forces,” further added the statement.
Additionally, for the first time ever, the 11th Air Task Force will “provide command and control and agile mission-generation capabilities,” mentioned the statement. “Seventh Air Force units and the 11th ATF will employ agile combat employment concepts, demonstrating their ability to generate, project, and sustain airpower from dispersed locations across the region,” it said.
South Korea also hosts the USAF’s 8th Fighter Wing (FW) “Wolf Pack,” based at Kunsan Air Base, whose 80th FS and 35th FS fly the F-16CM Block 40. Osan’s 51st FW also oversees the 36th FS which operates the F-16CM Block 40, beside the A-10Cs of the 25th FS.
Interestingly, the 8th FW at Kunsan Air Base during this year’s Beverly Pack 25-1 exercise, held from Jan. 12 to Jan. 16, executed its first ACE (Agile Combat Employment) movement on the Korean Peninsula, by “deploying to a simulated forward location at Gwangju Air Base.”
The A-10 Warthogs, meanwhile, should begin their retirement from the region, as per a service-wide decommissioning effort of the aircraft type. Both the F-16s and the A-10s from Kunsan and Osan participated in FS25.
It remains to be seen if Freedom Shield 25 sees the participation of the four B-1B Lancers currently at Guam’s Andersen AFB, part of the BTF (Bomber Task Force) 25-1. On Feb. 20, two of the B-1Bs flew over South Korean airspace, along with ROKAF F-15K Slam Eagles, KF-16s, F-35As U.S. F-16s and U.S. Marine Corps F-35Bs in what we concluded to be a 15 aircraft formation.
Movement, drills, ACE and F-35s
Most importantly, we can count at least three F-35A Lightning IIs of the 134th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron under the Vermont ANG (Air National Guard), operating from Cheongju Air Base for FS25 on Mar. 13. These F-35s arrived from Kadena Air Base in Japan, which in January divested its last legacy F-15C/D Eagle fleet, operated by the 18th Wing there.
A release on the Kadena-based F-35As at FS25 quoted a Lightning II pilot from the 134th EFS, 1st Lt. Benjamin Meyer, who said the goal is to see how the USAF and ROKAF can “operate as a combined force across multiple mission sets.”
“Many of their (ROKAF) pilots have flown multiple aircraft, including F-16s and F-15s, and they have deep expertise operating in this region,” Meyer said. “Flying with them gives us invaluable exposure to their tactics, techniques, and procedures.”
The exercise also serves as a proving ground for Agile Combat Employment concepts, “part of which was tested with the F-35 deployment to Cheongju.”
“Executing ACE in this region presents unique challenges. A key part is […] refining our execution plan,” said Meyer. “As the exercise progresses, the combined F-35 teams will continue to hone their readiness, ensuring they are prepared to meet any challenge to the security of the Korean Peninsula.”
🦅🛡 #FreedomShield25—Strengthening the #ROKUSAlliance
While U.S. & ROK F-35s train in the skies ✈️, this exercise integrates air, ground, naval, space & cyber—enhancing joint operations, Agile Combat Employment & real-world threat response.@7thAF @INDOPACOM @USForcesKorea pic.twitter.com/JULflAUjMO
— PACAF (@PACAF) March 14, 2025
North Korea is getting nervous
The exercise has several other components including land warfare elements like heliborne troop insertions, and AH-64 Apache helicopters from the 5-17 Air Cavalry conducting strikes with air-to-ground missiles. While statements have always described the drills as “defensive”, North Korea has long disagreed with that characterization, pointing to its massive, combined arms nature that represents offensive, invasion and occupation goals. Other images released by the U.S. Army Pacific showed soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division breaching a “simulated WMD (Weapon of Mass Destruction) facility.”
Korea JoongAng Daily also reported that 250 troops from Korea’s Army Special Warfare Command and the U.S. Army’s 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade executed “combined special strike drills” at Gwangju, Gyeonggi, using 16 Korean and U.S. military helicopters, including Chinooks and Black Hawks. The training focused on “special reconnaissance and strike operations at night.” An image released showed night vision capture of a CH-47 Chinook flying over a hillock with troops on the ground.
Prior to that, on Mar. 11, 2025, Yonhap News Agency reported that about 400 troops from the South Korean 1st Infantry Division and the U.S. Army’s 2nd Infantry Division/ROK-US Combined Division’s Stryker Brigade conducted air assault drills in the border town of Paju, 30 km northwest of Seoul. Six Surion KUH medium-utility helicopters and a reconnaissance drone were used in the drills.
“South Korea will deploy some 19,000 troops for the springtime exercise, with the two sides planning to stage 16 large-scale on-field drills, up from 10 last year,” the report added.
