F-35B fighters, B-1B bombers conduct drill

By Kim Rahn

The U.S. military dispatched four F-35B stealth fighters and two B-1B strategic bombers to the Korean Peninsula Monday in a warning to North Korea over its recent provocations, according to a government source.

The strategic weapons conducted a mock bombing exercise together with four South Korean F-15k fighters and returned to their bases in Japan and Guam, the source said.

The joint exercise took place three days after Pyongyang launched another intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) over Japan. The U.S. strategic aircraft were dispatched here earlier this month, Sept. 3, in response to the North’s sixth nuclear test.

It was also the second time F-35B fighters and B-1B bombers exercised together here.

The F-35B is a stealth fighter that can attack a target with precision in the air, on the ground or at sea.

The B-1B, dubbed the “swan of death,” is one of the U.S. military’s three major bombers along with the B-52 Stratofortress and the B-2 Spirit. It is the fastest among the three and has a larger payload than the other two. It can fly from Guam to South Korea in two hours.