The U.S. stealth fighter F-22A Raptor will be temporarily deployed in Japan this month and engage in joint drills with the South Korean Air Force, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported on Friday.

Twelve Raptors are to be sent to Kadena Air Base in Japan starting on Feb. 10, in what will be the first overseas deployment of the fighter jets, Yonhap quoted military sources in Washington as saying.

About 260 personnel, including about 20 pilots, will be deployed with the F-22 Raptros to Japan, Yonhap said.

A squadron of U.S. radar-evading F-117A Nighthawk jets and 300 U.S. Air Force members, arrived last month at South Korea's Gunsan Air Base, 270 km south of Seoul, for a four-month stay. The U.S. Air Force said the deployment was part of a routine training.

Source: Xinhua