Four days after North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test, the U.S. Air Force flew a nuclear-capable B-52 bomber over South Korea. On January 10, the Stratofortress flew non-stop from Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam approximately 1,900 miles to perform a flyover of Osan Air Force Base in South Korea. Osan is one of the main U.S. Air Force bases in South Korea and home to F-16C and A-10 jets.
Two Republic of Korea F-15K Slam Eagle and two U.S. Air Force F-16C fighters joined the B-52 for its flyover. The bomber returned to Guam afterward.
The B-52 is a heavy strategic bomber capable of flying both conventional and nuclear missions. With a crew of five, fully armed and fueled, the bomber has a maximum takeoff weight of nearly half a million pounds.
The current B-52H model can carry a wide variety of conventional weapons, including up to fifty-one 500-pound unguided bombs, 10 laser-guided bombs, or eight Harpoon anti-ship missiles. In the nuclear bomber role, the B-52 can carry up to twelve AGM-86 air-launched cruise missiles, each with a variable yield of 5 to 150 kilotons.
It is not known whether the bomber was armed during the flyby.
The B-52 flyover was described by the U.S. military as in response to North Korea's nuclear test, and a demonstration of the "ironclad commitment" of Washington to its allies in South Korea and Japan. North Korea responded to the flyover by calling the United States "stupid" and promising it would "take on nuclear threats with a nuclear response."