 |
| The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis / Yonhap |
US to send aircraft carrier, B-2 bombers
By Jun Ji-hye
 |
| B-2 stealth bomber / Korea Times file |
According to the Ministry of National Defense and the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command, the Stennis and the B-2s will join the allies' annual Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises, which will start March 7 and run until April 30.
The Stennis is the seventh Nimitz-class nuclear-powered super carrier in the U.S. Navy. Commissioned in 1995. Named for Senator John C. Stennis of Mississippi, it is capable of carrying some 90 fighter jets including F-18s, and has 6,500 officers and crew.
The B-2 has a radar-evading stealth function that enables it to elude anti-aircraft radar when dropping conventional or nuclear weapons.
The plan to continuously send the U.S. assets, following the previous dispatch of a B-52 bomber, the nuclear submarine USS North Carolina and F-22 stealth fighters, is the allies' apparent show of force against the North's fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and launch of a long-range rocket on Feb. 7.
Defense Minister Han Min-koo told a National Assembly session, Thursday, "Some 15,000 American troops will participate in the drills next month, which will take place on the largest-ever scale."
Last year, some 12,000 American troops and some 210,000 South Korean soldiers participated in the drills.
Anonymous sources told reporters that the U.S. may also dispatch one of its Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadrons (MPSRON) for the exercise.
According to the U.S. Marine Corps, the Maritime Prepositioning Force is organized into two squadrons with 14 ships overall _ one based at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, and the other in the Guam-Saipan area of the Western Pacific Ocean.
The maritime prepositioning ships provide combat commanders with persistent forward presence and rapid crisis response by pre-positioning combat equipment and supplies to support two Marine Expeditionary Brigades for up to 30 days.
Another source noted that the amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans is also expected to participate in the allies' annual Ssang Yong (Double Dragon) amphibious landing training for marines and navy personnel, also scheduled to begin early next month.
The U.S. Air Force's airborne battle management and surveillance aircraft, the E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS), could also possibly come to the peninsula, according to some reports.
Washington has sent strategic assets here since North Korea conducted the fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6.
On Jan. 10, a B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber performed a flyover at Osan Air Base, 55 kilometers south of Seoul, and the nuclear submarine USS North Carolina participated in a three-day joint exercise held in the East Sea from Saturday to Monday.
Most recently, four F-22 Raptor stealth fighters performed a flyover also at Osan Air Base.
Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye
![[INTERVIEW] North Korean-born chef delights Southerners' taste buds, breaks down cultural barriers](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/3a6dc51899d548b990f489b784a0ecd3.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[ANALYSIS] Yoon-Kishida meeting raises expectations of 3-way summit with China](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/f435e5a0dc774045ba9e051c7ea72913.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
