U.S. Strategic Command accompanies B-1B’s Guam deployment operation

It has been reported that Strategic Command Charles Richard who is practically in charge of the U.S.’s nuclear weapon operation attended the Guam deployment operation of B-1B strategic bombers, which are also known as the “swan of death.”

It is unusual for the U.S. Strategic Command who is in charge of nuclear weapon operation strategy, including “three major nuclear capabilities” of intercontinental ballistic missiles, bombers, and nuclear-powered submarines, to appear on the site of operation, following the South China Sea military training that mobilized a number of aircraft carriers and bombers. It is a red card to China’s expansion in Northeast Asia and an indirect warning against North Korea with persistent nuclear threats.

The U.S. Strategic Command shared a video of Adm. Richard in Air Force combat uniform on Wednesday sitting next to an operator of an aerial tanker fueling two B-1Bs. “We just got finished refueling a pair of B1's that are on their way to INDOPACOM on a Bomber Task Force mission,” said the strategic command in the video.

“Only America has the global reach and power projection,” said Adm. Richard. He added that that is “what is key to maintaining peace and deterring great power aggression in our competition with Russia and China.” “It implies a warning that North Korea, which is threatening South Korea and the U.S. with nuclear weapons and China on its back, should not even think about provocations,” said a military source.

Adm. Richard also emphasized in May that the U.S. would take decisive actions in the case of strategic deterrence failures, saying that competitors and adversaries are actively developing nuclear and other capabilities threatening the U.S. and its allies and partners.


Sang-Ho Yun ysh1005@donga.com