'Vigilant Storm' that Shook the North... Will the 'Death Swan' B-1B Decorate the US Military?

North Korea Reacts by Deploying Old Fighter Jets
Will US B-1B Bombers Be Deployed to Guam?

A South Korean Air Force KF-16 fighter jet participating in the 'Vigilant Storm' exercise moves to the runway for takeoff at Gunsan Air Base.
[Photo by the Air Force]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] The joint South Korea-U.S. air exercise "Vigilant Storm," to which North Korea has reacted extremely sensitively, is coming to an end. Originally scheduled to run until the 4th, the two countries abruptly decided to extend it by one day due to North Korea's continuous provocations.

North Korea appears to be fearful because this exercise directly targets Kim Jong-un, the General Secretary of the Workers' Party, including the center of Pyongyang. During the exercise period, North Korea fired more than 30 missiles and even flew old fighter jets in "demonstrative flights."

According to the military on the 5th, since the Vigilant Storm exercise began on the 31st of last month, a total of about 240 aircraft have been deployed, including approximately 140 South Korean Air Force aircraft such as F-35A, F-15K, KF-16 fighters, and KC-330 aerial refueling tankers, and about 100 U.S. military aircraft including F-35B fighters, EA-18 electronic warfare aircraft, U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance planes, and KC-135 aerial refueling tankers. This large-scale air exercise is the first in five years since December 2017, when about 260 South Korean and U.S. military aircraft conducted drills following North Korea's consecutive major provocations such as the 6th nuclear test and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches.

During this exercise period, North Korea strongly opposed it through various means such as missile launches, military aircraft, and statements.

On the third day of the exercise, the 2nd, North Korea launched about 25 missiles, including short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) and surface-to-air missiles, four times from 6:51 a.m. to 5:10 p.m. Among them, one missile launched around 8:51 a.m. from the Wonsan area in Gangwon Province fell into international waters south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the East Sea for the first time since the division of Korea, and an air raid alert was issued for Ulleungdo, which was in the missile's trajectory, for the first time.

The next day, the 3rd, North Korea opened the door to provocations by launching one intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The missile's top speed reached Mach 15 (15 times the speed of sound), but it only rose to an altitude of 1,920 km, and it was classified as a failure in practice. However, it was detected that the two-stage separation was achieved, showing some technical progress.

Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea / Korean Central News Agency [Image source=Yonhap News]

After launching the ICBM and two SRBMs, North Korea's rhetoric and actions became even more aggressive when South Korea and the U.S. announced the extension of Vigilant Storm.

Park Jong-chon, Vice Chairman of the Workers' Party Central Military Commission and considered North Korea's top military official, condemned the extension in a statement, calling it a "very dangerous and wrong choice," "provocative military act by the allied forces," and an "irreversible huge mistake." Shortly after the statement, North Korea launched three SRBMs, putting their words into action. However, these three missiles were reportedly old liquid-fueled missiles, presumed to be Scud-Cs, leading to speculation that North Korea might be running low on new missile stock.

On the night of the 3rd, North Korea fired about 80 artillery rounds in the area of Geumgang County, Gangwon Province, violating the "September 19 Inter-Korean Military Agreement," and from 11 a.m. on the 4th, it conducted demonstrative flights exposing about 180 military aircraft tracks over approximately four hours. North Korea still operates aircraft used during the Korean War, so even a few of the latest stealth fighters like the F-35A and F-35B or the heavily armed F-15K fighters make it virtually impossible for North Korea to compete. Despite this clear disadvantage, North Korea exposed aircraft tracks to create a semblance of similarity to the South Korea-U.S. air exercises.

It is interpreted that North Korea is extremely sensitive to Vigilant Storm because it is a practical exercise directly targeting the top leadership, including General Secretary Kim Jong-un. Vigilant Storm is known to apply a Pre-ATO (Pre-Air Tasking Order) that assigns missions to each fighter to strike hundreds of key targets in North Korea, including the center of Pyongyang, practicing target detection and air penetration.

Attention is focused on whether the finale of Vigilant Storm, which followed various North Korean provocations such as ballistic missile launches south of the NLL, ICBM launches, artillery provocations, and military aircraft demonstrative flights, will be marked by the U.S. strategic bomber B-1B Lancer, known as the "Death Swan." The U.S. military deployed two B-1Bs to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, about two hours from the Korean Peninsula, in mid-last month. As North Korea has completed preparations for its 7th nuclear test and recently escalated provocations, South Korea and the U.S. are reported to have been discussing the deployment of B-1Bs to the Korean Peninsula. The B-1B also participated in the South Korea-U.S. joint air exercise in February 2017.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.