Falcon shoots down F-35A, South Korea forced to abandon ill-fated fighter

South Korean F-35A fighters fly alongside a pair of US Air Force B-1B bombers during an exercise over the Korean Peninsula in February.

MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE OF KOREA

The Korea JoongAng Daily on December 1 quoted an announcement from the South Korean Air Force about the decision to retire early the F-35A damaged during an aerial encounter with a falcon earlier this year.

The F-35A crashed into a falcon at an altitude of 330 meters on January 4, shortly after taking off from Cheongju Air Base in North Chungcheong.

Even though the falcon was able to "take down" the state-of-the-art fighter, it still had to "pay for its life". It was sucked into the left air intake system of the aircraft, damaging the hydraulic pipes and electrical network that supplied power to the navigation system and landing gear.

As a result, the fighter jet had to make an emergency landing on its belly at Seosan Air Base in South Chungcheong Province, about 80 km southwest of Seoul.

According to the South Korean Air Force's assessment board, it would take four years to complete the repair of the damaged fighter, at a minimum cost of 140 billion won ($107 million), more than the cost of buying a new one of more than $85 million.

US contractor Lockheed Martin assisted in the assessment and found that the falcon strike had damaged more than 300 parts of the F-35A, including engines, navigation systems and airframes.

South Korea's F-35A was unavailable for combat 234 times in 18 months due to malfunction

South Korea currently has 40 F-35As, including the damaged fighters, and 25 more are awaiting delivery from the US.

The South Korean military has deployed its F-35A squadron in joint exercises with its US ally this year, including a show of force just hours after North Korea launched a missile in March.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/chim-ung-ha-guc-f-35a-han-quoc-buoc-phai-bo-tiem-kich-xau-so-185231202144301922.htm