Washington to Increase Advanced Fighters in Guam

By Jung Sung-ki

The U.S. Air Force will establish a regional hub in Guam for deploying advanced fighter jets and other aerial assets by October to cover Korea and other Asia-Pacific regions in case of an emergency, according to a report published by the South Korean Air Force Thursday. The report said four high-altitude Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles will be moved to an airbase in Guam by the end of the year. The spy aircraft is expected to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance missions against China and North Korea.The Global Hawk is known to be able to survey vast areas with near pinpoint accuracy from as high as 65,000 feet for up to 35 straight hours. In addition, the Pentagon will deploy 48 high-tech stealth fighters ― F-22 Raptors and F-35 Lightening IIs ― bombers and air tankers to the hub base by 2014, according to the report.The F-22, built by Lockheed Martin, is the world's most advanced fighter jet. It is equipped with an active electronically scanned radar for cruise missile detection and is capable of evading advanced air defenses.About 8,000 marines will also moved to Guam for more efficient expeditionary operations in case of an emergency, it says.Currently, about 1,700 American troops are stationed in Guam, along with eight B-52 bombers and 18 F-15 Eagle strike fighters, according to the report. About 1,100 Marines are stationed in islets near Guam, along with four nuclear-powered attack submarines. The deployment of advanced fighters to Guam is part of the U.S. Air Force's ``theater security packages'' in which warplanes and bombers conduct missions to deter regional threats, including North Korean provocation, on a rotational basis.

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