South Korea Is Considering The Building Of Large Aircraft Carriers

South Korea's first-in-class amphibous assault ship. USN

Warzone/The Drive: South Korea Considers Building Large Aircraft Carriers As Country Prepares To Buy More F-35s

As the security situation in the region erodes, the carrier question becomes more pressing for Seoul.

A senior South Korean lawmaker has said the country should reconsider proposals for acquiring either light or medium aircraft carriers with Catapult Assisted Take-Off Barrier Arrested Recovery, or CATOBAR, configurations to respond to growing regional security threats. These were alternatives to South Korea's reported decision to purchase a number of large amphibious assault ships capable of supporting fixed-wing short takeoff and vertical landing combat jets, namely the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter. This call for reassessing that choice comes as the South Korean Ministry of Defense may be leaning toward acquiring 20 more conventional F-35A models rather than B variants, further deferring plans to develop a fixed-wing naval aviation capability.

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WNU Editor: The F-35B Joint Strike Fighter makes this possible.