This past week, the U.S. Military issued a shockingly strong response to the recent wave of ballistic missile launches from North Korea by carrying out a pair of military drills utilizing their supersonic bombers with Japan and South Korea.
The air drills took place in the wake of Kim Jong Un, the dictator of North Korea, carrying out ICBM launches this week which South Korea claimed had the power to strike anywhere within the U.S.
“We are aware of the DPRK’s ballistic missile launch and are consulting closely with the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan, as well as other regional allies and partners,” explained the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in a release after the launches. “The United States condemns these actions and calls on the DPRK to refrain from any further unlawful and destabilizing acts. While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, or territory, or to our allies, we will continue to monitor the situation. The U.S. commitments to the defense of the ROK and Japan remain ironclad.”
Officials with the U.S. Air Force answered the event with joint air training in the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone using B-1B strategic bombers and F-16s alongside South Korean F-35s, which were originally bought from the United States.
“This training demonstrated once again the ROK-US combined defense capability and posture based on the alliance’s overwhelming power, and the U.S. ironclad commitment to providing extended deterrence in the defense of the Korean Peninsula,” explained the U.S. Forces Korea in a release. “In addition, this training improved the combined operations capability by mastering procedures to promptly deploy the U.S. extended deterrence asset on the Korean Peninsula and respond.”
The release claimed that South Korea was pushing further to develop its military power in order to answer the hostilities coming from North Korea should dire events kick off.
On Nov 19, #JASDF #F2, and #USAF #B1 conducted tactical exercises in the airspace, northwest of Kyushu, to mutually reaffirm the readiness under the ironclad #JapanUSAlliance. JASDF and USAF routinely work together to maintain high levels of operational readiness. pic.twitter.com/DqVmGo6XAb
— Japan Air Self-Defense Force (@JASDF_PAO_ENG) November 19, 2022
We. Fly. Together. | 같이납시다
???????? #ROKUSAlliance ???????? https://t.co/Fa1XryMMBE— U.S. Forces Korea (@USForcesKorea) November 19, 2022
The B-1B reportedly “irks” Kim due to its power to effectively put any weapon currently in the arsenal of the U.S. and carry a very large payload.
“Carrying the largest conventional payload of both guided and unguided weapons in the Air Force inventory, the multi-mission B-1 can rapidly deliver massive quantities of precision and non-precision weapons against any adversary, anywhere in the world, at any time,” stated the U.S. Strategic Command in a release.
“The B-1’s can carry Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles, 2,000-pound class Joint Direct Attack Munitions and the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, giving it an advanced stand-off, counter-ship capability,” the statement went on. “It also has an advanced self-protection suite and is able to transit at supersonic speeds to enhance offensive and defensive capabilities reassuring allies and aggressively deterring adversaries in the region.”
