After a gap of seven years two United States Air Force (USAF) B1-B bombers flew over the Korean peninsula for a live fire exercise. The reason for the change, continuous provocations from North Korea. In the latest set of provocations Kim Jong Un’s hermit kingdom started sending trash-filled balloons over the 38th parallel, or the Korean Demilitarised Zone (DMZ). This just days after North Korea tried to put a spy satellite in orbit, sparking fear that the launch was a cover for an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Test (ICBM) test.
After the latest round of provocations, South Korea has rescinded from an agreement to reduce tensions along the DMZ. This paved way for the latest round of exercises with the United States. It is worth remembering that North Korea pulled out of the deal last year. The bombing exercise involved U.S. and South Korean fighters besides strategic bombers.
The bombing exercise, the first after 2017, was carried out at Pilsung Range in the western region of South Korea. The bombers from the 37th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron took off from Anderson Air Force Base in Guam, Central Pacific. The two warplanes flew 3,000 km one way to drop the guided Joint Direct Attack Munition. The B-1 bomber carries the largest conventional payload of any aircraft in the USAF.
U.S. Seventh Air Force commander and deputy commander of U.S. forces on the peninsula Lt. Gen. David Iverson stated “The tremendous capabilities of ROK and U.S. air power is an overwhelming, asymmetric warfighting advantage for our combined force that adversaries cannot match”.
Two Korean F-15Ks from the Daegu Air Base also delivered 500-pound JDAMs along with the bombers. After the bombing leg, the B-1s were joined by F-35s and F-16s of both the nations for the air-to-air portion of the exercise. Providing the fighters an opportunity to integrate both air forces to take on any aggressor.
