The Pentagon has prepared a specific plan for a « pre-emptive strike » on North Korea’s missile and nuclear sites should President Trump order such an attack. « Of all the military options… [President Trump] could consider, this would be one of the two…
Just hours after Trump made his famously heated vow to unleash « fire and fury » on North Korea if provocations by the Kim regime continued, the US Air Force issued a very clear statement in which it explicitly said that it was » ready to fight tonight », launching an attack of B-1 bombers if so ordered:
“How we train is how we fight and the more we interface with our allies, the better prepared we are to fight tonight, ” said a 37th EBS B-1 pilot. “The B-1 is a long-range bomber that is well-suited for the maritime domain and can meet the unique challenges of the Pacific.”
Now, according to an NBC report, it appears that the B-1 pilot was dead serious, as the Pentagon has unveiled a plan for a preemptive strike on North Korean missile sites with bombers stationed in Guam, once Donald Trump gives the order to strike. Echoing what we said yesterday that war » under any analysis, is insanity « , the preemptive strike plan is viewed as the « best option available » out of all the bad ones:
« There is no good option, » a senior intelligence official involved in North Korean planning told NBC News, b ut a unilateral American bomber strike not supported by any assets in the South constitutes « the best of a lot of bad options. »
The attack would consist of B-1 Lancer heavy bombers located on Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, a senior acting and retired military officials told NBC news.
“ Of all the military options… [President Donald Trump] could consider, this would be one of the two or three that would at least have the possibility of not escalating the situation, ” retired Admiral James Stavridis, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe and an NBC News analyst, said.
Why the B-1?
Military sources told NBC News that the internal justification for centering a strike on the B-1 is both practical and intricate. The B-1 has the largest internal payload of any current bomber in the U. S. arsenal. A pair of bombers can carry a mix of weapons in three separate bomb bays — as many as 168 500-pound bombs — or more likely, according to military sources, the new Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile — Extended Range (JASSM-ER) , a highly accurate missile with a range of 500 nautical miles, allowing the missile to be fired from well outside North Korean territory.
There is another important consideration: according to one senior military officer, » the B-1 has also been selected because it has the added benefit of not being able to carry nuclear weapons. Military planners think that will signal China, Russia, and Pyongyang that the U. S. is not trying to escalate an already bad situation any further. «
The plan explains why in recent weeks pairs of B-1s have conducted 11 practice runs of a similar mission since the end of May, the last taking place on Monday, around the time Trump and Kim were exchanging unpleasantries in the media, with the training has accelerated since May, according to officials. In an actual mission, NBC notes that the non-nuclear bombers would be supported by satellites and drones and surrounded by fighter jets as well as aerial refueling and electronic warfare planes.
