The Pentagon has deployed a B-2 stealth bomber fitted out for carrying nuclear weapons to unidentified areas of the western Pacific ahead of next week’s planned visit to the region by US President Donald Trump.
The flight plan for the nuclear-equipped bomber has not been released by the US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) or the White House, although various US bases in the region, including those in South Korea and Japan, make up a short list for the long-range warplane to resupply.
The last documented time a B-2 visited the area was during a 2013 Pentagon promotional show-of-force tour over the Korean Peninsula, according to the Japan Times.
Flying to the Pacific area from its Missouri home at the Whiteman Air Force Base during the weekend, the B-2 — with a range of over 6000 miles — can be refueled in mid flight, making it possible for the aircraft to deliver a nuclear weapon anywhere on the planet.
STRATCOM downplayed the bomber overflight, stating that the globetrotting mission was routine, and was being conducted to "familiarize aircrew with air bases and operations in different geographic combatant commands, enabling them to maintain a high state of readiness and proficiency," cited by Japantimes.com.
The STRATCOM statement also included remarks intended to allay the fears of regional US allies Japan and South Korea ahead of Trump's visit, suggesting that the B-2 visit should be considered as "a visible demonstration of commitment to our allies and enhancing regional security."
Over the weekend US Defense Secretary James Mattis accused the People's Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK) of engaging in "outlaw" activity, promising that Washington and its allies will never accept Pyongyang as a nuclear weapons-capable state.
"I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power," Mattis declared.
"North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbors and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs," he stated, adding that recent developments — including a purported successful hydrogen bomb detonation by Pyongyang in September — have created "a new urgency" for the region.
Scientists from Beijing believe the Punggye-ri nuclear facility is unstable and that just one more explosion could blow the top off of Mount Mantap, beneath which all six of North Korea's nuclear tests thave been conducted.
That could lead to the mountain collapsing, causing radioactive waste to escape and blow aross the border into China just 50 miles away.
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Geology and Geophysics warned Pyongyang delegates of the risk during a briefing in Beijing soon after North Korea's last nuclear test on September 3, according ot the South China Morning Post.
Tellingly, the meeting occured two days before North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho told reporters at the United Nations Assembly in New York Pyongyang was considering conducting a hydrogen bomb test over the Pacific Ocean.
Zhai Mingguo, a senior Chinese geologist who organised the September 20 briefing, told the newspaper: “This is a big, sophisticated problem requiring multiple, systematic approaches.
North Korea has the capability to strike any state in the US according to a leading American commander who heads up a secretive military monitoring centre.
The man in charge of the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) revealed for the first time how officials who work there monitor North Korea missile tests 24/7.
Engineers, photo experts, and intelligence analysts at the Ohio air base pour through satellite information for impending weapon tests - and analyse the results from missile launches.
It comes amid escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula, as the US Defence Secretary yesterday admitted the chance of a North Korean nuclear strike was "accelerating".
Colonel Sean Larkin, who heads up the NASIC programme, told CBS that North Korea is well equipped to hit any state of the US mainland.
He said: "The missile tests this summer have demonstrated the ability that they could reach the US."
When asked if this would put any state in particular danger, the US military leader was unequivocal: "All 48 states on the mainland."
Colonel Larkin admitted that the if positioned in a standard trajectory, the missiles launched in July could have blitz California.
In a shocking computer stimulation of the North Korean ICBM, researchers at NASIC revealed how Kim Jong-un is within touching distance of ordering a nuclear blast on the US west coast.
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