Stealth Bombers Could Form Part of Joint Exercise

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Stealth Bombers Could Form Part of Joint Exercise

B-2 stealth bombers and F-22 stealth fighters of the U.S. could be deployed in a joint exercise with South Korean troops amid signs that North Korea is preparing to launch a long-range missile. The Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercise will be staged from March 9 to 20.

On Feb. 25, the U.S. deployed four B-2 stealth bombers at Andersen Air Force Base, the U.S.'s key strategic base in the Asian and Pacific region, relieving six B-52s of duties there. Earlier in January, the U.S. deployed 12 F-22 stealth fighters, the world's most formidable fighter jets, at Kadena Air Base in southern Okinawa of Japan for a three-month tour of duty.

B-2s and F-22s are stealth aircraft that cannot be detected by radar. They would be tasked to attack major strategic targets in North Korea or intercept North Korean fighters in case of war on the Korean Peninsula.

Experts say the U.S. could deploy these stealth aircraft in the Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercise as a show of force if North Korea should continue to aggravate the situation. Up until 2007, the U.S. had temporarily deployed F-117 stealth fighter-bombers on the Korean Peninsula several times when South Korean-U.S. joint military exercises were staged.

The U.S. recently staged a joint exercise of F-22s and B-2s for the first time in the Pacific region. Air Force General Howie Chandler, commander of U.S. Pacific Air Force, was quoted by Reuters as saying this at a symposium of the U.S. Air Force Association held in Orlando, Florida on Feb. 27.

An officer at the U.S. Forces Korea headquarters said, "I have no idea yet" whether such stealth aircraft will be deployed in the joint exercise or not. About 26,000 U.S. troops, about 12,000 U.S. forces in Korea and some 14,000 U.S. troops stationed overseas, will participate in the exercise. A fleet of the nuclear-powered 97,000t-class aircraft carrier, USS John C. Stennis, will also be part of the drill alongside the South Korean Navy.

Source
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200903/200903050004.html