Is the cutting-edge F-35 Korea`s choice for its fighter project?

At Eglin Airbase near Port Walton Beach, Florida, Maj. Karen Roganov, an officer in charge of public information, guided reporters to the base Friday, saying, “Many foreign reporters have visited here, but this is the first time for us to receive Korean journalists.”

Covering 1.88 million sq. kilometers, the base has more than 50 fighter jet hangars, runways and more than 30 barracks. The facility is used as a center for flight training and pilot education for the F-35 Lightening II, the U.S. joint strike fighter. The Pentagon plans to deploy 2,443 units of the fighter to the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marines for 30 years from 2016.

The 33rd Fighter Wing on the base offers flight training and pilot education with 22 units of the F-35, starting with the first flight training of F-35 No. 1 in March last year. On the base`s runway, two F-35s took off soared into the sky one after the other, with an extremely loud roaring sound. In ground hangars, maintenance and repair agents checked the conditions of the airframe and navigation equipment of the F-35s.

Maj. Matthew Johnston, who returned after completing a flight, said, “The F-35 is very easy to operate, like using a smartphone, and offers outstanding flight performance,” adding, “F-16 and F-15 pilots can also take the control stick to operate the F-35 jet after two months of training.”

Unlike the cockpit of a conventional fighter jet, which is full of gauges and control buttons, that of the F-35 has just a 15-inch touch screen. Pilots carry out different missions, including search and selection of targets and launch of weapons, by pushing menus on the screen with their fingers. An F-35 jet pilot can assess external conditions 360 degrees, flight data and combat situations at night or in bad weather with a state-of-the-art monitor attached to his or her helmet.

The biggest advantage of the F-35 is the stealth function that enables it to dodge radar. A stealth fighter can secretly approach a target without being detected by enemy aircraft or an air defense network, and deal a devastating blow before escaping. The only other stealth fighter apart from the F-35 is the F-22 Raptor, which is considered the best of its class in the world.

Col. Andrew Toth, commander of the 33rd Fighter Wing, said, “I had a chance to experience the powerful performance of a stealth fighter in a Red Flag multinational joint exercise three years ago.” The red team, which Todd belonged at the time, operated F-15 and F16 fighter jets, while the blue team ran F-22s, F-15s and F-16s. Both sides engaged in mock air combat, with the blue team dominating, 51-1.

Korea is considering the F-35 for its F-X project to purchase next-generation fighter jets worth 8.3 trillion won (7.5 billion U.S. dollars), along with the F-15SE from Boeing and the Typhoon from Eurofighter. The Korean military plans to choose the F-X aircraft by year`s end after holding negotiations over price and technology transfer. The plan is to secure 60 fighter jets from 2016.

ysh1005@donga.com