S. Korea, US kick off joint air drills

SEOUL - South Korea and the United States kicked off their large-scale joint air drills on Monday, involving about 240 warplanes, according to the South Korean air force.

The Vigilant Storm exercise will last until Friday, mobilizing around 140 military aircraft from the South Korean side including F-35A stealth jets, F-15K and KF-16 fighters, as well as KC-330 tankers.

The US air force will deploy about 100 aircraft, such as F-35B stealth fighters, EA-18 electronic warfare aircraft, U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft and KC-135 tankers.

The Australian air force will join the air drills by sending one KC-30A tanker.

During the drills, the combined air forces will make some 1,600 sorties to review the Korea Air and Space Operations Center's (KAOC) operational capability to command the combined forces.