[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] B-52 Strategic Bomber Landing on the Korean Peninsula Is

Landing at Domestic Air Force Base This Week with External Access
Future Strategic Bombers Scheduled for Regular Landings on the Korean Peninsula

The B-52 strategic bomber, one of the United States' representative strategic assets, will land on the Korean Peninsula. It is unusual for the B-52, which has only flown over the Korean Peninsula for deterrence against North Korea, to land domestically.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to military officials on the 16th, the B-52 operated by the U.S. Air Force will land at a domestic air force base this week and will be publicly revealed.

The B-52 is considered one of the three major strategic bombers of the United States, along with the B-1B Lancer and B-2. The so-called "Death's Swan" B-1B previously landed at Osan Air Base in 2016. Since then, the U.S. has announced plans for strategic bombers to land on the Korean Peninsula.

In April, Kenneth Wilsbach, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Air Forces, said in an interview with Japanese media that as a response to ballistic missile launches, "Our (U.S. military) bombers regularly operate on and around the Korean Peninsula and will probably also land on the Korean Peninsula." The U.S. Pacific Air Forces Commander oversees the operation and command of fighters and bombers in the Indo-Pacific region.

The reason U.S. strategic bombers have not landed on the Korean Peninsula until now is that the missiles they carry have such long ranges that they can accomplish strike missions without needing to land in South Korea. Since they can reach South Korean airspace from Guam in at least four hours, they do not need to stay in South Korea for several days to complete their missions. Deploying for several days in South Korea would also require moving armed personnel and support staff, which would incur significant costs.

The B-52 long-range bomber is a formidable weapon capable of striking North Korea’s command facilities from a distance of 3,000 km. The deployed B-52 can carry up to 27 tons of bombs and fly over 6,400 km to bomb and return, capable of solo missions. It is also equipped with the formidable "bunker buster" bomb (GBU-57), which penetrates deep underground to destroy underground caves. This bomb is used in wartime to strike the North Korean leadership, including Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission, who is located in underground facilities.

With a length of 48 meters, a wingspan of 56.4 meters, and a weight of 221.35 tons, the B-52 has a maximum range of 16,000 km. It can operate at a maximum altitude of 55,000 feet, allowing high-altitude penetration, and can carry 35 conventional 2,000-pound (about 907 kg) bombs and 12 cruise missiles. Initially, it only carried nuclear and conventional bombs, but through upgrades, it now also carries air-launched cruise missiles and nuclear warhead air-to-ground missiles.

Among these, the AGM-86 air-launched cruise missile with a range of 2,500 km and the AGM-129 nuclear stealth cruise missile with a range of 3,000 km boast formidable power. When launched from an altitude 2,500 to 3,000 km away, the accuracy of striking the target is within 100 meters.

The explosive power of these missiles reaches 200 kilotons (kt; 1 kt equals 1,000 tons of dynamite). The AGM-69 air-to-ground nuclear missile (SRAM) with a range of 200 km has an explosive power of about 170 kt. Considering that the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II had an explosive power of 16 kt, this is an enormous destructive force.

Since the sortie during the 1976 "Axe Murder Incident" at Panmunjom and the subsequent operation to cut down poplar trees, the B-52 has been deployed on the Korean Peninsula whenever the threat level of North Korean military provocations rises.

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