Around 1,000 U.S. airmen and fighter jets have teamed up with South Korea’s Air Force in a joint combat training to ensure their readiness against North Korea’s provocations, the Pacific Command (PACOM) announced Monday. The two-week Max Thunder exercise, one of the largest military flying exercises held annually in South Korea, is scheduled to run though April 28 at Kunsan Air Base in the southwest of the peninsula. It involves various types of American aircraft,

including F-16s from the 7th Air Force, AV-8Bs from the 12th Marine Aircraft Group and EA-18Gs from the Electronic Attack Squadron 132, all of which are based in South Korea and Japan, according to PACOM. South Korea has dispatched roughly 500 personnel in support of the F-15K, F-16, F-5E and F-4E fighters, as well as other Air Force planes in operation. READ MORE