US sends B-1 strategic bombers over South Korea
By
Peter Symonds
3 May 2017
The US Air Force sent two B-1B Lancer strategic bombers from Guam to the Korean Peninsula on Monday to engage in bilateral training exercises with South Korean and Japanese military forces. The provocative move was taken amid continuing threats by the Trump administration to launch military action against North Korea.
A US Air Force spokesperson claimed that the flight was routine and refused to say whether the bombers were armed or how close they flew to the border with North Korea. B-1B bombers are no longer fitted to carry nuclear weapons, but can carry a massive conventional payload—23 tonnes externally and 34 tonnes internally—of cruise missiles, smart bombs and other munitions.
While denouncing North Korean ballistic missile tests, the Pentagon has been test-launching its own Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). Last week the highly sophisticated missile was launched from a base in California and splashed down in the Pacific over 6,000 kilometres away. Another test is due to take place today. One Minuteman III missile is capable of carrying multiple nuclear weapons that can be independently directed at separate targets.
The drills involving B-1B bombers were conducted as the aircraft carrier strike group headed by the USS Carl Vinson participated in war games with South Korean and Japanese naval vessels in waters off the Korean Peninsula. The South Korean and US militaries have just completed two months of annual joint exercises involving up to 320,000 personnel in rehearsals for fighting a war with North Korea.
These menacing military manoeuvres appear to be at odds with President Donald Trump’s comment on Monday that he would be “honoured” to meet with North…