Both Korea’s Yonhap and Russia’s Sputnik news services reported on the first-ever three-way joint aerial drill amongst the U.S., Japan and South Korea. The drill took place today, south of the Korean Peninsula, where South Korean and Japanese air defense identification zones overlap. The drill included South Korean, U.S. and Japanese fighter jets, as well as a U.S. B-52H strategic bomber (aka “Stratofortress").
Yonhap news reported today: “Last Tuesday, [Oct. 17] the U.S. B-52H nuclear-capable bomber made its first known landing at a South Korean airbase after staging joint air drills with South Korean fighters and flying over a biennial arms exhibition just south of Seoul. The deployment of the long-range heavy bomber came after the U.S. pledged to enhance the ‘regular visibility’ of strategic assets on the peninsula in a joint declaration issued by Yoon and Biden during their summit in Washington in April.”
The drill was dubbed the “Spirit of Camp David” exercise, and Seoul’s Air Force said: “This exercise was designed to follow through on the defense agreements discussed in the Camp David summit in August and expand the three countries’ response capabilities against North Korea’s advancing nuclear and missile threats.” The drill included U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcons, with South Korea deploying F-15Ks, and Japan flying Mitsubishi F-2 fighters. The total number of aircraft wasn’t identified.
