America News Desk!! South Korea and the United States on Monday launched large-scale joint air drills in the face of military threats from North Korea. About 110 aircraft and more than 1,400 soldiers were mobilized for this year’s Korea Flying Training (KFT), a 12-day exercise at Gwangju Air Base, 267 km south of Seoul. More than 60 South Korean warplanes, including F-35A, F-15K and KF-16 fighters, will take part in the drills, while the US air force’s F-16 fighter jets, A-10 attack aircraft, will participate in the exercise, Yonhap news agency reported. It will deploy some 40 aircraft, such as fighter jets and the Marine Corps’ F-35B and FA-18 jets. According to South Korea’s air force, the exercise will demonstrate advanced training of allied forces by conducting various exercises such as strike package flights and close air support operations. Will focus on enhancing the interoperability and joint operational capability of the fighter aircraft. KFT is one of the two regular large scale exercises that the Allies conduct every year. KFT is conducted in the first half of the year. Tensions have risen on the Korean peninsula after Pyongyang test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile on April 13 and a North Korean patrol boat crossed the western de facto maritime boundary on April 15.
–IANS
World News Desk!!
PK/SKP