South Korea is building a special place to fix their F-35 fighter jets. This new repair shop, called a maintenance depot, will be located at Cheongju Air Base and is expected to be up and running by 2027.
This is a big deal for South Korea because right now, they can only do basic maintenance on their F-35s. For bigger repairs, they have to send their jets all the way to Australia. That’s a long trip, and it takes a while to get the jets fixed and back to South Korea.
There’s another reason why South Korea wants to fix their F-35s at home: security. Their closest neighbor, Japan, also has a depot that could fix F-35s, but South Korea isn’t comfortable sending their jets there because of some disagreements between the two countries.
To get ready for this new repair shop, South Korea is going to send 30 of its Air Force mechanics to the United States for special training in 2025. By 2027, they’ll be ready to fix their F-35s right at home!
