Latest news with #F-15K
Hans India
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
North Korea fires 10 multiple rocket launcher shells after trilateral air drills
Seoul: North Korea fired around 10 artillery shells from its multiple rocket launcher system on Thursday, South Korea's military said, a day after the South conducted joint air drills with the United States and Japan. The North fired the shells toward the Yellow Sea at around 10 a.m. from the Sunan area near Pyongyang, the military said, adding that South Korean and US intelligence authorities are conducting an analysis of the latest weapon test. The North's 240mm multiple rocket launcher puts Seoul and its adjacent areas in target range. Last year, the North conducted a test-launch of what it claimed to be a multiple rocket launcher equipped with a new guidance system, Yonhap news agency reported. The weapon test came a day after South Korea, the US and Japan conducted a three-way aerial exercise as part of efforts to strengthen their trilateral security cooperation against North Korean military threats. The exercise, the first to take place under the Lee Jae Myung government, involved the South Korean F-15K, the US F-16 and the Japanese F-2 fighter jets. Last month, North Korea had fired multiple cruise missiles toward the East Sea, South Korea's military said, a day after a "serious" accident occurred during Pyongyang's launch of a new warship. The launches took place as North Korea said earlier in the day that parts of a new naval destroyer were "crushed" during its launch ceremony, with the North's leader Kim Jong-un calling it a "criminal act" that could not be tolerated. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the North's missile launches from the Sondok area in South Hamgyong Province, without providing further details, such as the number of missiles fired. The JCS said it is closely monitoring North Korean activities so that Pyongyang does not "misjudge" the current security situation, adding that it is maintaining the capabilities to "overwhelmingly" respond to any provocation. It marked the North's latest major missile launch this month after it fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on May 8. The South's military usually does not immediately announce North Korean cruise missile launches, compared with ballistic ones, which are banned under UN Security Council resolutions.
3 days ago
- Politics
Japan, U.S., S. Korea Conduct Joint Aerial Drill
News from Japan World Jun 18, 2025 18:53 (JST) Seoul, June 18 (Jiji Press)--Japan, the United States and South Korea conducted a joint aerial exercise in the airspace south of South Korea's Jeju island Wednesday morning, according to the South Korean Air Force. It was the first three-way joint training since the administration of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung was inaugurated on June 4. According to the South Korean Air Force, the drill was conducted with the aim of strengthening trilateral security cooperation to deter North Korea's increasingly sophisticated nuclear and missile threats. F-2 fighters of Japan's Air Self-Defense Force, F-16 fighters of the U.S. Air Force and F-15K fighters of the South Korean Air Force took part in the drill. South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported that, while previous joint drills included U.S. aircraft carriers and strategic bombers, the latest one comprised only fighter jets. Lee, who is seeking to deescalate tensions with his northern neighbor, may have opted to avoid using weaponry viewed as threats by the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
North Korea warns of ‘overwhelming deterrence' after U.S.-South Korea air drills
SEOUL, April 17 (UPI) -- North Korea warned Thursday it would respond with "overwhelming deterrence" against the United States following Washington's deployment of B-1B strategic bombers to the Korean Peninsula for a joint air exercise with South Korea this week. The allies' drills represent an "open threat to the security of our state and a grave provocation that raises the military tension in the region to an extreme dangerous level," a spokesperson for North Korea's Defense Ministry said in a statement carried by state-run Korean Central News Agency. "The DPRK will exercise the overwhelming deterrence and continue to make the U.S. recognize that its unannounced deployment of strategic means is a reckless and unnecessary abuse of strength," the spokesperson said, using the official acronym for North Korea. "The higher the level of provocation against the DPRK is, the greater the level of danger returning to the U.S. will be." The United States sent a pair of B-1B strategic bombers to participate in joint drills on Tuesday, which was a holiday in North Korea marking the birthday of founder Kim Il Sung. The exercise was intended to "respond to the continuous threat of North Korea's increasingly sophisticated nuclear and missile programs," Seoul's Defense Ministry said. Pyongyang has frequently objected to the deployment of U.S. strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula and condemns the allies' joint military exercises as rehearsals for an invasion. The ministry spokesperson said Thursday that the latest exercise was a "process of increasing the skillfulness in tactics and procedures for attacking the DPRK, and completing preparations for going into real action at any time." North Korea "will never tolerate the slightest sign of threat of the hostile forces against the security sovereignty of the state," the spokesperson added. The drills marked the second deployment of U.S. B-1B bombers to the peninsula since President Donald Trump returned to office. Days after a February joint air exercise, Pyongyang test-fired strategic cruise missiles in what it called a demonstration of its nuclear deterrence capabilities. North Korea's statement came as the United States and South Korea kicked off a two-week joint air exercise, called Freedom Flag, on Thursday. The exercise, which runs until May 2, involves some 1,100 troops and 90 aircraft from both militaries, South Korea's air force said in a press release. Assets mobilized for the drills include South Korean F-35A, F-15K and KF-16 fighter jets and American F-16 and F-35 B fighters. The allies "plan to strengthen interoperability and cultivate capabilities for wartime joint mission execution," the release said. "In addition, they will intensively review and master the latest tactical and operational procedures that reflect the changes in the operational environment of modern warfare."
Korea Herald
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
S. Korea, US launch joint Freedom Flag air drills
South Korea and the United States kicked off a joint large-scale air exercise Thursday, the South's Air Force said, in efforts to bolster their interoperability and combined readiness posture against North Korean threats. Some 1,100 troops and 90 aircraft from both sides were mobilized for the semiannual Freedom Flag exercise, which runs through May 2, according to the Air Force. Among the assets mobilized for the two-week drills were the South's F-35A, F-15K and KF-16 fighter jets, as well as the US F-16 and F-35 B fighters and MQ-1 and MQ-9 drones. Over the next two weeks, troops will take part in key air operations training programs, such as air interdiction, defensive counter air, combat search and rescue and close air support exercises. For the first time, stealth fighter jets, such as the F-35, will take on the role of "red air" enemy forces to help enhance pilots' practical combat capabilities, the Air Force said. Freedom Flag was launched last year to replace regular large-scale air exercises between the allies -- Korea Flying Training in the first half of the year and Vigilant Defense in the second half. (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
First US strategic asset deployed to Korea under Trump 2.0
South Korea and the US conducted a combined aerial exercise on Thursday with a US B-1B strategic bomber, marking the first deployment of a US strategic asset to the Korean Peninsula since the launch of the second Trump administration. The B-1B bomber was escorted by the South Korean Air Force's F-35A and F-15K fighter jets and US F-16 fighter jets over South Korean airspace, according to South Korea's Defense Ministry. The ministry explained that the exercise aimed to demonstrate US extended deterrence capabilities against North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile threats while enhancing interoperability between South Korean and US forces. Details on the planning timeline -- particularly the decision to include the B-1B bomber -- were not disclosed. A ministry official noted that the exercise aligns with South Korea's ongoing discussions with the US in recent years to include US strategic assets in combined exercises, a practice that continued under the previous Biden administration. The B-1B, also known as the Lancer, is one of the US military's three strategic bombers, alongside the B-52H and B-2. It is the only supersonic bomber among them and is expected to play a key role in preemptive strikes on critical targets if signs of a North Korean attack are detected. Although it does not carry nuclear weapons, the B-1B is capable of carrying nearly 60 metric tons of bombs. Its high speed allows it to reach the Korean Peninsula from a US base in Guam in just two hours. On Jan. 15, South Korea, the US, and Japan conducted a trilateral aerial drill over international waters near the Korean Peninsula, with a US B-1B strategic bomber also participating, in response to North Korea's continued provocations ahead of Trump's expected inauguration.
