ROKAF has a fleet of 39 F-35As to maintain.
Credit: Sipa US/Alamy Stock Photo
SEOUL—South Korea is expected to establish a Lockheed Martin F-35 maintenance, repair and overhaul depot at Cheongju AB from 2027.
Thirty Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) engineers and technicians will be sent to the U.S. for maintenance training in 2025, South Korean broadcaster SBS reports.
Establishing a maintenance depot for the F-35 in South Korea has been a top priority for nearly a decade. Since the arrival of South Korea's first F-35A in March 2018, ROKAF has only been able to perform user maintenance on the fighter type.
The closest heavy maintenance depot to South Korea is in Komaki, Japan, but due to security concerns related to the unresolved territorial dispute between the two nations, ROKAF's heavy maintenance is assigned to Royal Australian Air Force Base Williamtown. Located in New South Wales, the base is some 5,000 mi. away from Seoul.
South Korea took delivery of a total of 40 F-35As between 2018 and January 2022, one of which has since been retired. In December last year, Seoul ordered 20 more of the fighters for 4.26 trillion won ($3.1 billion). That deal includes the cost of constructing the maintenance depots, according to the SBS report.
