Two U.S. B-52 bombers from Guam’s Andersen Air Force Base flew over the Sea of Japan Friday known as the East Sea in Korea, according to the aviation tracker Aircraft Spots.
In a twitter post Aircraft Spots reported that the bombers “conducted a mission” in the East Sea and “possibly the South China Sea” on Friday. Three KC-135R aerial tankers provided support for their flight, according to the post.
The latest flight came after the North conducted a series of short-range ballistic missile tests in recent months and test-fired a new submarine-launched ballistic missile early this month.
Japan’s Yonhap news agency speculates that the mission appears to have been designed to send a warning to North Korea in response to Pyongyang’s recent series of missile launches.