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S. Korea, US stage air drills with stealth fighter jets over US aircraft carrier

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By yonhap
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U.S. F-18 Super Hornet fighter jets are seen on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson at a port in Busan, March 3. Reuters-Yonhap

U.S. F-18 Super Hornet fighter jets are seen on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson at a port in Busan, March 3. Reuters-Yonhap

South Korea and the United States conducted air drills with advanced fighter jets over a U.S. aircraft carrier this week as part of a major ongoing allied exercise, the U.S. Air Force stationed in the country said Friday.

The drills took place Thursday in connection with the annual Freedom Shield exercise, mobilizing two South Korean F-35As, two U.S. Air Force F-35As and one U.S. Navy F-35C deployed from the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier that visited South Korea earlier this month, according to the Seventh Air Force.

A photo released by the U.S. military showed five F-35 aircraft flying over the carrier operating in unspecified waters.

"Rehearsing combat operations with ROKAF, USAF, and United States Navy fifth generation aircraft demonstrates the unmatched, high level of readiness and capability of our forces," Lt. Gen. David Iverson, Seventh Air Force commander, said in a release, using the acronym of the South Korean Air Force's official name.

F-35s are fifth-generation fighter jets that incorporate advanced technologies, such as stealth capabilities. The U.S. military does not permanently station fifth-generation fighters in South Korea but has often deployed them for joint drills.

North Korea, which operates a fleet of mostly aging Soviet-era jets, has previously reacted angrily to U.S. stealth fighter deployments to South Korea, accusing Washington of heightening tensions.

Pyongyang has long decried the allies' joint drills as rehearsals for an invasion, while Seoul and Washington maintain that such exercises are defensive in nature. (Yonhap)