Two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancers assigned to the 37th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, deployed from Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, take off from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, for training mission Aug. 11, 2017.

A key part of the US military’s ‘tip of the spear,’ the bombers on Guam are ‘locked and loaded’, and ready to fulfill strike missions if called upon by the administration. This exercise is in direct response to Pyongyang’s recent escalation of nuclear threat.