How Allied F-35s and B1-B Bombers Are Sending a Strong Message to North Korea
Korean and US F-35s joined a small group of combat aircraft from both countries for “joint precision strike” training missions, a series of war preparation exercises aimed at sending a significant message to North Korea and even China that US and Korean allied 5th-generation air power and bombing capacity are ready and in close proximity if needed.
A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer assigned to the 37th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, deployed from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. to Andersen AFB, Guam, flies a training mission over the Pacific Ocean Aug. 16, 2017. During the mission two B-1s were joined by Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-15s in the vicinity of the Sankaku Islands. These training flights with Japan demonstrate the solidarity and resolve we share with our allies to preserve peace and security in the Indo-Asia-Pacific. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Joshua Smoot)
Photos of the joint maneuvers were released with comments from the US Pacific Air Forces, yet the images interestingly showed no F-35s. US Air Force and the Republic of Korea Air Force flew in formations with US B1-B Lancers, F-16s and ROKAF KF-15 Slam Eagles in a seven-aircraft formation, according to a PACAF essay on the demonstrations.
However, perhaps of greatest significance, the exercise connected US and ROK F-35s for precision-strike and air interdiction training.
“Three U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons from the 51st FW; four ROK Air Force F-35A Lighting IIs from the 17th FW, Cheongju Air Base ROK; and four Marine F-35Bs from the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (1st MAW), Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, joined the bombers for simulated precision strike and air interdiction training, validating the two nations’ combined ability to conduct strikes and operated together in a contested environment,” the PACAF essay said.
US and ROK F-35s have for years been conducting what PACAF refers to as Theater Sustainment Packages designed to conduct joint patrols.
It’s known that multinational F-35 formations can share targeting information in real time due to the Joint Strike Fighters universal Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL) securely networking all F-35s from all countries, so the pressing question regarding the “precision strike” training would pertain to the extent to which the B1-B Bombers and US and ROK 4th-generation aircraft can exchange targeting specifics in real time while airborne.
4th and 5th-Generation Fighter Networking
Should B1-Bs be able to quickly share targeting detail with US F-16s and ROK KF-15s, then the intention to demonstrate “precision-strike” capabilities across the entire formation would seem to have yielded significant results.
This “networking” advantage would be further fortified by an ability for 4th-and-5th-generation fighter jets to share information in flight as well, something the simulated training was likely intended to demonstrate and refine.
As part of this, it seems significant that 5th-and-4th-generation aircraft would collectively conduct “air interdiction,” as it would indicate that indeed new levels of networking are now possible.
The joint flights of this kind are not unusual, yet the combination of bombers with 4th-and-5th-gen fighters introduces significant concepts of operation which would suggest that perhaps new levels of “networking” between otherwise less-connected combat aircraft is becoming possible.
The US Air Force has for many years been advancing new methods of quickly connecting 4th and 5th-generation aircraft in flight with two-way datalinks.
This makes great tactical sense, given that 4th-and-5th-gen aircraft can greatly complement one another in any major air campaign. The F-35s could, for instance, help establish superiority and destroy enemy air defenses to generate an “air corridor” through which well-armed 4th-generation fighters can pass at lower risk.
A multinational formation of ROK and US 4th-and-5th-gen fighters could present a very serious threat to North Korea.
Russia & North Korea Should Beware
It would be reasonable to assume that this joint exercise may have in part been inspired by North Korea’s recent acquisition of more Russian air defenses. In exchange for sending troops to Ukraine, Russia is reportedly giving North Korea some of its air-defense systems.
An essay in Newsweek cites remarks from Shin Wonsik, the top security advisor for the South Korean president, saying that Russia has indeed provided these defenses and other air defense technologies to help defend the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.
A B-1B Lancer bomber assigned to the 34th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., waits to be guided into a parking spot after returning to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, from a bomber task force mission, June 8, 2022. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Nicholas Priest.
Alongside questions of targeting, networking and in-flight data sharing, the other critical element of this exercise would seem to pertain to simple geography. The exercise places lethal bombers and 5th-and-4th-gen fighter jets on the Korean peninsula in range to easily strike North Korea or even areas of China.
About the Author: Kris Osborn
Kris Osborn is the Military Technology Editor of 19FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
