The U.S. Air Force will forward deploy supersonic bombers in Guam early this month, partly to better cope with North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, a recent statement by the Pacific Air Forces showed on its website.
On Saturday, the B-1B Lancers will be deployed to the U.S. Pacific Command's Andersen Air Force Base on Guam to replace the B-52 bombers, the first time in 10 years that the airplanes will be stationed on the key island. The last time the bombers were sent to the island was in April 2006, with the latest move seen as a sign of Washington's resolve in guarding the so-called Indo-Asia-Pacific region.
"With a large weapon capacity and exceptional standoff strike capability, the B-1 will provide the U.S. Pacific Command and its regional allies and partners with a credible, strategic power projection platform," the statement said.
This photo posted on the website of the U.S. Pacific Command shows a B-1B Lancer flying over a desert. (Yonhap)
The bombers will be sent to Guam as part of the U.S. Air Force's bomber rotation and will be accompanied by approximately 300 airmen from Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, it said.
The U.S. Pacific Command didn't provide how many B-1B bombers will operate out of Guam.
The B-1B, which first went into operation with the U.S. Air Force in the 1980s, is capable of reaching speeds of up to Mach 1.25, or 1,335 kph, at an altitude of just 1.5 kilometers. It can carry nuclear weapons, as well as conventional guided bombs, such as the GBU-31, the GBU-38 and the GBU-54.
In Guam, the United States already operates the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system to counter the North's nuclear and missile threats. (Yonhap)
