This is the bomber the Pentagon would use to strike North Korean missile sites
If President Trump were to ever order a pre-emptive strike on North Korea over its nuclear weapons program, the Pentagon has prepared a plan involving B1-B bombers originating from the U.S. Air Force base in Guam, according to a report Wednesday night.
The Pentagon plan calls for the non-nuclear B1-B "Lancer" bombers to be supported by satellites and drones and surrounded by fighter jets and electronic warfare planes, NBC News reported.
North Korea's military said Tuesday it is weighing a strike on Guam, a U.S. island territory in the western Pacific Ocean.
On Wednesday, North Korea made a similar threat, saying it will complete its plan to attack "waters near Guam" by mid-August.
NBC News says pairs of B-1Bs have conducted practice runs of a similar mission since the end of May, the latest taking place on Monday.
Six B-1Bs are currently positioned in Guam, which is located about 2,100 miles from North Korea. The Pacific Air Forces tweeted late Tuesday that with U.S. airmen having arrived in Guam to work with Japan and South Korea to counter any threat posed by North Korea, the U.S. is "ready" to fight.
North Korea's military shot back Wednesday at Trump's threat to impose "fire and fury" on Pyongyang, calling his comments a "load of nonsense."
North Korea said that "only absolute force" can work on the Trump administration and "sound dialogue" over nuclear weapons is not possible with Trump, who Pyongyang said is "bereft of reason."
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned in a statement Wednesday that North Korea risked "the end of its regime and the destruction of its people" if it did not "stand down" from its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
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