In a rarity, the Air Force temporarily deploys three kinds of bombers to the Pacific

A B-52H Stratofortress bomber prepares to land at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. Photo / US Air Force

B-52 Stratofortress bombers began arriving at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, temporarily providing the Pentagon with a rarity as tensions with North Korea percolate: three kinds of bombers in the Pacific.

The six B-52s and 300 airmen from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana will take over the US military's continuous bomber presence mission in the Pacific from a unit of B-1B Lancer bombers at the end of the month, Air Force officials said. The mission, which has existed since 2004, is designed to reassure US allies in the region and show strength against China, North Korea and other potential adversaries.

The B-52s and B-1s will be joined in Guam by three B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, which deployed last week from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. The bat-winged bomber arrived in what the Pentagon characterised as a short-term deployment, giving the Pentagon an unusually robust show of force this month in Guam until the B-1s return to Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. The Pentagon last had three kinds of bombers deployed in the Pacific in 2016.

The deployments could have additional significance in the Pacific considering the planes' capabilities. The B-2 is the only US bomber capable of carrying a nuclear gravity bomb. B-52s are capable of carrying smaller nuclear cruise missiles, while B-1s do not carry nuclear weapons as a result of a the 2010 New Start Treaty between the United States and Russia.

The deployment of the B-52s in the Pacific came at the same time that the Pentagon sent four other B-52s from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Britain. They will carry out training from the base RAF Fairford, reassuring allies in Europe.

Last week, Marine Lieutenant Kenneth McKenzie, the director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon that it would be wrong to view the deployment of the B-2s "within the single lens of what it means to the Korean Peninsula". It affects allies across the Pacific, he said.

But McKenzie acknowledged that when the Pentagon moves bombers across the globe,"we send a signal to everyone".

Japanese national broadcaster NHK issues on-air apology after issuing an alert incorrectly claiming that North Korea had launched a missile https://t.co/9KrOPa5tFF pic.twitter.com/0vxvL49ejt

— CNN (@CNN) January 16, 2018

The US military is preparing for a possible war against North Korea https://t.co/lRQTioE9Dd

— Vox (@voxdotcom) January 16, 2018

The B-1s have been involved in numerous shows of force against North Korea in the last few months, sometimes flying in formation with other aircraft from the US, South Korea and Japan before dropping bombs on training ranges in South Korea.

North Korea's Foreign Minister, Ri Yong Ho, threatened in September to shoot down US warplanes, even if they are not in North Korean airspace. He argued that US President Donald Trump's tweets about the standoff between the two nations was tantamount to a declaration of war. US officials said afterward that they would continue to use international airspace for missions.

The verbal sparring has continued on both sides. North Korea's official news agency called a recent tweet by Trump the "spasm of a lunatic". The accusation referenced Trump's January 2 suggestion that he had a "Nuclear Button" that was "much bigger & more powerful" than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's.

On January 2, Trump tweeted "North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the 'Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.' Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!"

Trump's tweet came after Kim warned the United States not to test him in a January 1 address.