Will US Bombers Come Again Next Week? [Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club]

US-ROK Combined Exercise Vigilant Defense Underway
Training Likely to Extend and Bomber Deployment Expected if North Korea Protests

South Korea and the United States will conduct a large-scale joint air exercise starting next week. This year’s exercise is named ‘Vigilant Defense,’ with the main goal of assessing the operational capabilities of the 4.5-generation and 5-generation aircraft operated by both countries.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

About 130 air assets from the South Korean and U.S. air forces will participate in this exercise. The training, which will continue until the 3rd of next month, will also include joint air-to-ground live-fire drills. Additionally, the forces from both sides plan to evaluate key air operation missions such as △attack formations △defensive support △emergency air interdiction △close air support during this exercise.

The Core of This Year’s Vigilant Defense: Assessing 4.5-Generation and 5-Generation Operational Capabilities

According to the Air Force, the exercise will feature South Korea’s F-35A stealth fighters, E-737 airborne early warning and control aircraft, and KC-330 transport aircraft, along with U.S. F-35A and F-35B fighters, FA-18 fighters, EA-18 electronic warfare aircraft, KC-135 aerial refueling tankers, and C-130 transport aircraft. For this exercise, the U.S. F-35A fighters will deploy from the mainland, while the FA-18, EA-18, F-35B, and C-130 will deploy from U.S. bases in Japan to the Korean Peninsula. Notably, the Royal Australian Air Force’s multi-role aerial refueling and transport aircraft KC-30A will participate, conducting aerial refueling training alongside South Korean and U.S. fighters. The KC-30A is the same model as South Korea’s KC-330, both being Airbus A-330 MRTT (Multi-Role Tanker Transport) aircraft.

The Vigilant exercises conducted by the South Korean and U.S. air forces are considered representative joint exercises alongside the ROK-U.S. Marine Corps’ ‘Ssangryong Exercise’ and the second half of the year’s ROK-U.S. joint exercise ‘Ulchi Freedom Shield’ (UFS). The use of the name ‘Vigilant,’ meaning ‘not letting down one’s guard,’ began in 2015. It started as Vigilant ACE (Air Component Exercise) but disappeared during the Moon Jae-in administration. It was revived under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration as Vigilant STORM.

A distinctive feature of the Vigilant exercises is that training continues nonstop for 24 hours. The exercise control group commanding this year’s training will operate 24/7 from the Korea Aerospace Operations Center (KAOC) at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province throughout the exercise period.

Top ROK-U.S. Air Force Aircraft Deployed for 3 Days... Additional U.S. Bombers Possible if North Provokes

In particular, strike training will be conducted focusing on 700 Joint Defensive Point Intercept (JDPI) locations set by South Korea and the U.S. In case of emergency, strikes will be carried out according to Pre-ATO (Pre-Air Tasking Order) assigned to each fighter. The JDPI includes key targets such as mobile launchers (TELs) for nuclear and missile weapons and underground bunkers. The training also includes striking critical targets such as the Presidential Palace where Chairman Kim Jong-un is located, the Yongbyon nuclear facility, and the Sinpo shipyard where submarine forces are stationed, all within the shortest possible time. The aircraft and strike missiles used to hit these targets will be designated through the Korea Aerospace Operations Center (K-AOC) within the Air Force Operations Command.

There is also speculation that strategic bombers, considered key U.S. strategic assets, may be included in this exercise. Last year, North Korea responded to the Vigilant exercise by launching six ballistic missiles, including one intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In response, South Korea and the U.S. extended the Vigilant exercise by one day and deployed two B-1B strategic bombers to participate in the extended Vigilant STORM exercise.

The B-1B, counted among the U.S.’s three major strategic bombers along with the B-2 and B-52, does not have nuclear strike capability but carries about twice the armament of other strategic bombers. When forward-deployed to Guam, it can reach the Korean Peninsula within two hours and conduct large-scale bombing with conventional precision strike weapons after low-altitude penetration into North Korean airspace.

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