US flies B-1B bomber for 1st precision bombing drill in 7 yrs

A precision airstrike carried out during the exercise. Pic/AP

The US flew a long-range B-1B bomber over the Korean Peninsula on Wednesday for its first precision-guided bombing drill with South Korea in seven years, the South said.

The drill - seen as a show of force against North Korea - comes as tensions are rising over the North's recent launches of rubbish-carrying balloons toward South Korea and other provocations.

Wednesday's training involved other advanced US and South Korean fighter jets as well as the B-1B aircraft, the second US bomber temporarily deployed over the Korean Peninsula this year. The exercise was to demonstrate the "US security commitment to South Korea and strengthen the allies' joint defence posture".

During the drill, the B-1B dropped Joint Direct Attack Munitions while being escorted by South Korean jets, the first such bombing drill for a US bomber since 2017, the ministry said. South Korean fighter jets also conducted live-firing drills to show the country's readiness to punish North Korea if provoked, it said.

2017
Year B-1B bomber was last used in drills

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever