Photos: 10 Fighters Escort B-1 in Pacific Show of Force

A B-1 bomber from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., joined 10 Allied fighters from the U.S., Japan, and South Korea on Nov. 3 in a show of force just days after North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile. China, meanwhile, countered with its own wave of its warplanes near Taiwan the same day. 

It was the second time this year the U.S., Japan, and South Korealn air forces exercised together. The flight “continues strong trilateral cooperation, enabling immediate response to regional security challenges in a critical security environment,” U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement. 

Joining the B-1 were four Japanese F-2s, four South Korean F-15Ks, and two USAF F-16s from the 51st Fighter Wing at Osan Air Base, South Korea. 

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff noted in a release that the flight took the aircraft east of Jeju Island, between Japan and South Korea and a few hundred miles from China and Taiwan, and was in response to North Korea’s ICBM test on Oct. 31. 

Public flight tracking data showed refueling aircraft supporting the flight flying off the coast of Tokyo on the eastern side of Japan. 

“Our three nations maintain an absolute commitment to the shared vision of a secure, rules-based, and open Indo-Pacific region,” INDOPACOM said in its release. 

North Korea’s ICBM test was its first in almost a year, according to the Associated Press. It also traveled further than any in the past, indicative of potential advancement in capability. The launch also followed close on the heels of revelations that North Korea has sent thousands of troops to Russia for potential deployment in its war against Ukraine. That move has ratcheted up tensions around the globe. 

Meanwhile, Taiwan reported Nov. 3 that China sent 35 military aircraft, including fighters and bombers, south of its island territory. China has steadily increased its military activity around Taiwan, sending waves of aircraft and ships and rehearing potential blockades and invasions. Beijing has said it is preparing its military to be ready for an invasion by 2027. 

U.S. forces are on alert around the globe, preparing for potential contingencies should adversaries seek to use the contentious U.S. election for their own purposes, the Washington Post reported. 

In addition to the bomber escort flight, the U.S. has also flexed its airpower in the Pacific in recent weeks through Keen Sword 25 across Japan. As part of the exercise, USAF F-22 fighters flew alongside U.S. Marine Corps F-35Bs and Japanese Air Self-Defense Force F-15Js at Nyutabaru Air Base and USAF F-16 fighters flew with Japanese F-2s at Tsuiki Air Base in southwest Japan. 

The exercise was capped off by an “elephant walk” on Nov. 1 of U.S. and Japanese aircraft at Misawa Air Base in the northern part of the country, featuring: 

• Four USAF F-16 fighters 
• Four JASDF F-35 fighters 
• Three JASDF F-2 fighters 
• One JASDF E-2D airborne early warning aircraft 
• One JASDF RQ-4B drone 
• One U.S. Navy C-12 cargo plane 
• One U.S. Navy P-8 maritime patrol aircraft