(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) oul April 10 - South Korea and the United States will launch their largest-ever air exercise this week to sharpen their ability to work together in simulated war situations Seoul's Air Force said Thursday. The annual Max Thunder exercise will run from Friday through April 25 involving about 103 warplanes including a fleet of F-15K fighter jets and KF-16 fighters from South Korea as well as AWACS air surveillance planes from the U.S. the Air Force said in a statement. Some 1400 pilots from the allies will be mobilized for the drill over the entire airspace of South Korea Air Force officials said. "Air forces of the allies will reinforce their joint combat readiness through the realistic training at a time when tensions on the Korean Peninsula are running high" an Air Force official said. Training missions include simulating air battles with four to eight jets and neutralizing enemy's air defense system in case of an all-out war according to the statement. Tensions on the peninsula remain escalated following North Korea's launching of ballistic missiles and rockets into the sea off its east coast. Pyongyang has also threatened to carry out a new form of nuclear test without specifying what that entails. About 28500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War which ended in a cease-fire not a peace treaty
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