US deploys B-1B bombers in Guam to deal with North Korea

B-1B bomber – Photo: AIR FORCE

The US Air Force will send three or four B-1B bombers from Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota to Guam. “B-1B bombers will be stationed in Guam for immediate deployment to the Korean peninsula in the event that North Korea conducts a nuclear test,” a military source said. Donga Ilbo.

Dubbed the “Swan of Death”, the B-1B bomber is armed with guided weapons capable of delivering precision strikes on missiles, nuclear bases and command centers. from hundreds of miles away.

During North Korea’s nuclear missile launches in 2017, US bombers flew across the “Northern Limit Line” (NLL – disputed maritime demarcation line between North and South Korea). and flew as far as the Punggye-ri nuclear test site to conduct an armed maneuver.

After a brief skirmish between North Korea and South Korea in late 2017, B-1B bombers were no longer deployed to the Korean peninsula. Even during joint exercises between South Korea and the United States, B-1B aircraft did not appear.

During the Seoul-Washington summit on May 21, after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced to prevent North Korea from expanding its military activities, Washington is mobilizing all available surveillance resources to monitor Pyongyang.

On May 30, an E-8C attack target surveillance radar aircraft, or Joint STARS, departed from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture (Japan) to fly into the Sea of ​​Japan (South Korea) called the East Sea).

It appears that Joint STARS is monitoring for signs of nuclear missile tests at the Punggye-ri test site and elsewhere.

“We are closely monitoring and monitoring relevant facilities and areas under steadfast coordination between Seoul and Washington,” a South Korean military official said, when asked about the possibility of North Korea’s advance. conducted a nuclear test on Memorial Day of the United States (May 30).

However, no North Korean nuclear test took place on May 30.