On June 26, the U.S. and Republic of Korea Air Forces conducted a joint air exercise known as the Twin Hawk Exercise. The exercise featured the U.S. Air Force’s F-22 Raptor stealth fighter, currently rated as the world’s best fighter.
According to the Air Force, around 30 4th and 5th-generation fighters participated in this exercise. These included South Korea’s F-35A stealth fighters, KF-16 fighters, and the U.S. Air Force’s F-22 and F-16 fighters. This is the first time in 42 days that the F-22 has trained with the South Korean Air Force fighters since Russian President Vladimir Putin visited China and held a summit with President Xi Jinping on May 16.
The Twin Hawk Exercise, a battalion-level joint air exercise, is currently being conducted at the Cheongju and Chungju bases from June 24 to 28.
The U.S. and Korean fighter jets mastered air blockade operations in the airspace over the eastern region of the Korean Peninsula. Air blockade operations are designed to delay or neutralize enemy military power before it can harm the South Korean forces. According to the Air Force, the Republic of Korea Air Force’s KF-16 and the U.S. Air Force’s F-16 played the role of virtual enemy aircraft, creating a realistic mission simulation and improving the training results.
Also, the fighter jets of both countries formed a joint squadron to learn operational and mission procedures and improved their ability to conduct joint operations with 4th and 5th-generation fighters.
After the training, the U.S. and Korean pilots held a tactical discussion to analyze the training results and discuss improvements.
Lieutenant Colonel Park Young Min, an F-35A pilot of the 17th Fighter Wing, said, “I was able to cultivate teamwork and confidence by training as a team with the U.S. Air Force’s F-22 and other aircraft.” He added, “Based on this valuable experience, I will devote myself more to maintaining an ironclad air defense posture in the future.”
Meanwhile, the F-22 is rated as having unparalleled performance in all aspects, including stealth and maneuverability.
The F-22’s top speed exceeds Mach 2.5 (over 1,900 mph), its range is 2,000 miles, and its operational radius is 1,352 miles. It is said that if it departs from Okinawa, Japan, it can strike North Korea within two hours.
Therefore, the F-22 is considered a strategic weapon of the U.S. military that can precisely strike key facilities such as the offices or underground bunkers of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un without being detected by North Korea’s radar or air defense network in a crisis.
The F-22’s frontal radar cross-section is reportedly about 0.0001 square meters. This is only a thousandth of the level compared to the similarly sized F-15 and even the smaller F-16. In other words, detecting the F-22 with conventional radar is virtually impossible.