The US Air Force's largest strategic nuclear bomber, the B-52, can carry 31 tons of bombs and missiles, including nuclear bombs and nuclear warhead cruise missiles.
On the morning of today (16th), flight training in Japanese airspace with Japan Air Self-Defense Force fighters was caught on a civil aviation tracking site.
It flew from the mainland of the United States, and it is observed that it was headed for Guam after training.
Four B-1B strategic bombers are also forward deployed on Guam.
We have been waiting for more than 10 days since the last 3 days in a state where an immediate sortie is possible.
A South Korean military official said the B-1B flew near Japan at least three times to carry out its missions.
Three U.S. Navy carrier-class ships, including the carriers Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, and the Tripoli amphibious assault ship, conducted maneuvering exercises in the waters south of Japan on the 13th with cruisers and destroyers.
It is the first time in four years and seven months since November 2017 that three U.S. Navy carrier-class ships have gathered in the sea near the Korean Peninsula.
It is part of the U.S. military's sole 'Brave Shield' exercise that will continue until tomorrow, and B-52s and B-1Bs are also expected to participate.
[Shin Jong-woo / Senior Analyst at the Korea Defense Security Forum: If North Korea conducts a nuclear test, strategic assets participating in the exercise may move to the vicinity of the Korean Peninsula for extended deterrence.]
The Korean Peninsula, where there is no precedent for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and strategic bombers The simultaneous gathering in the vicinity is interpreted as the US's highest level of warning about North Korea's nuclear test attempt.
This is SBS Kim Tae-Hoon.
(Video editing: Park Chun-bae / Production: D Content Planning Department)