U.S. Surging Fighter Presence in Korea By 78 Percent: Large F-16 Force Basing Just 80km From North Korea

<p >The U.S. Air Force has announced plans to significantly increase its forward fighter presence in South Korea by surging the presence of fighter aircraft at Osan Air Base by 155 percent, with the 20 F-16C/D fighters based at the facility set to be bolstered by 31 additional F-16s. The Air Force previously deployed 40 F-16C/D fighters in South Korea, which were evenly split between Osan Air Base located just 80 kilometres from the inter-Korean demilitarised zone, and Kusnan Airbase located further south. The Air Force previously also deployed 24 A-10 attack jets at Osan Air Base, although these ageing jets are currently being retired from service. The viability of the A-10 for provision of close air support in Korea has increasingly been called into question due to major improvements in North Korean <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/stronger-dprk-air-defence-us-f35-rok" target="_blank">air defence capabilities</a>. Although the F-16’s lack of stealth capabilities and limited electronic attack capabilities leave the aircraft highly vulnerable if operating near North Korean territory, the fighters are capable of deploying a wide range of beyond visual range missiles that can strike North Korean targets from safer distances. The U.S. Air Force has refrained from permanently stationing more capable fighters such as the F-35A, F-15E or F-22 in South Korea, with the very high vulnerability of bases across the peninsula to North Korean missile and artillery strikes leaving fighters there at risk. </p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/04/26/article_680c63e69f3c24_52080784.png" title="U.S. Air Force F-16 at Osan Air Base in Korea"></p><p >Although the F-16 is one of the two oldest fighters classes still in production anywhere in the world today, modernised variants of the aircraft are still considered more than capable of outperforming Korean People’s Army Air Force MiG-23ML and MiG-29 fighters. While the MiG-23ML and MiG-29A were considered to have <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/nkorea-last-major-mig23-operator-how-capable" target="_blank">significant advantages</a> over the F-16 when they were procured from the Soviet Union in the mid-1980s, major investments in modernising F-16s with subsystems such as helmet mounted sights, Link 16 data links, AIM-9X high off boresight capable air-to-air missiles and AIM-120C active radar guided air-to-air missiles has provided the American jets with distinct advantages. The age of North Korea’s fighter fleet means that the country’s formidable and extremely dense network of modern ground based air defence systems is expected to represent the primary challenge for U.S. and allied fighter units should the be able to sustain operations from bases under enemy fire. </p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/04/26/article_680c63db4e80f2_71262655.jpeg" title="North Korean MiG-29A and MiG-29UB Fighters"></p><p >North Korea’s fighter fleet is expected to see its capabilities significantly enhanced in the near future, as the country begins to procure modern fighter aircraft from Russia in the near future. Procurements are expected to<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-realistically-ship-hundreds-mig29-nkorea" > include large numbers</a> of modernised MiG-29 fighters, with a possibility remaining that over 100 will be purchase to phase out many of the country’s older MiG-19 and MiG-21 second generation fighters. The Korean People’s Army Air Force is also speculated to be <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/expert-russia-nkorea-joint-fighter-units" >planning to procure</a> Su-57 fifth generation fighters, after North Korean officials <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/future-of-north-korean-aviation-in-russia-kim-jong-un-tours-plants-producing-su-35-and-su-57-fighters-and-sukhoi-airliners" >inspected</a> the aircraft in Russia in September 2023. Development of advanced<a href="https://www.38north.org/2022/10/air-to-air-missiles-could-be-the-north-korean-defense-sectors-next-breakthrough-why-it-matters/" > new air-to-air missiles</a> in the country are expected to play an important role in bridging the existing missile gap between North Korean and American fighter units. This is expected to significantly increase the challenges faced by U.S. Air Force F-16s in Korea, and may lead the service to consider a permanent deployment of more advanced F-35A fifth generation fighters to the peninsula.</p>

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