USAF B-1 Bombers Train with Live Munitions Drops over Korean Peninsula
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The US Air Force (USAF) and Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) recently undertook live munitions and Close Air Support training at the Pilsung Range in the Republic of Korea.
A single B-1B bomber from the 37th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, currently assigned to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and two ROKAF F-15Ks from 11th Fighter Wing at Daegu Air Base trained together, successfully releasing live GBU-38, 500lb (227kg) Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), at multiple simulated targets, which were engaged simultaneously.
This was the first live munitions drop by a B-1 on the Korean peninsula since 2017.
“This training showcases the incredible capabilities of our combined forces to simultaneously strike multiple targets in a contested environment,” Lt. Gen. David Iverson, US Force Korea deputy commander and Seventh Air Force commander, said in a US Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) release. “The tremendous capabilities of ROK and US airpower is an overwhelming, asymmetric warfighting advantage for our combined force that adversaries cannot match.”
Lt. Col. Christian Hoover, 37th EBS commander, said the integration with the ROK “demonstrated the ability of the USAF’s B-1 fleet to conduct precision targeting and strike with live weapons in an unfamiliar location.”
Following the live munitions drop, the B-1 joined US Marine Corps F-35Bs, USAF F-16s, and KC-135 Stratotankers, and ROK F-35As and KF-16s for air-to-air training with fifth and fourth generation aircraft over the western region of South Korea.
The B-1 carries the largest conventional payload of both guided and unguided weapons of any aircraft in the USAF inventory.
