North Korea should be very afraid of the US and South Korea's air drill with 24 stealth jets

Master Sgt. Jeremy Lock/USAF

• The US and South Korea are holding the largest ever air drill on the Korean Peninsula involving 24 stealth jets practicing to take out North Korea's offensive capabilities.
• North Korea has promised a "terrible retaliation" for the exercise, but there's little they can do.
• Stealth jets like the F-22 and F-35 provide the US with a possibly insurmountable technological advantage over North Korea.

The US and South Korea frequently train together and stage military drills, but with 24 stealth jets participating in the largest air drill ever on the peninsula, this drill should give Kim Jong Un chills.

About 12,000 US Navy sailors, Marines, and South Korean troops will train with 230 aircraft from eight bases. The planes will conduct "surgical strikes" on 700 or so targets that mimic North Korean military infrastructure, according to NK News.

The combined forces will focus on taking out North Korea's artillery installations and blocking an invasion, while six F-22 Raptor fighter jets, six US Marine Corps F-35B jump jets, and 12 US Air Force F-35As patrol the skies with all aspect stealth that Pyongyang would never see coming.

In short, this is the largest-ever preparation for the all-out air and land war that would ensue if the US, South Korea, and North Korea ever went to war - and Pyongyang has taken notice.

North Korean media said that the US is "staging an ultra-precision strike drill with high intensity just like in a real war focused on 'removing' the DPRK's state leadership and core facilities by massively introducing the ultramodern stealth fighters," according to the Wall Street Journal's Jonathan Cheng.

While North Korean media frequently exaggerates in crafting a propaganda narrative, this time it's pretty much correct.

The US has never before pulled in as many stealth jets, and never before have they trained so realistically to defeat North Korea.

How stealth fighters can change the game

Even before North Korea developed nuclear weapons, its massive artillery installations prevented the US or South Korea from ever crossing the DMZ.

If the US and South Korea ever cracked the puzzle of how to defeat North Korea's military leadership without sustaining too much damage from artillery and missile attacks, F-22 and F-35 stealth jets would likely lead a massive attack just as they're practicing currently.

Not only can the F-22s and F-35s fly over North Korea without being seen, the F-35s have unparalleled sensors and situational awareness that could help find artillery sites and direct older fighter jets to hammer them with airstrikes.

KRT via AP

The North Korean military conducted a "Combined Fire Demonstration" in Wonsan in April to celebrate its 85th anniversary.

North Korea's hidden artillery pieces have managed to deter outside invaders for decades, but as Kim Jong Un perfects his fleet of intercontinental ballistic missiles and top US officials describe Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions like a ticking time bomb, it should be very afraid of the introduction of stealth aircraft onto the peninsula.

On Sunday North Korean media warned of a "terrible retaliation" to the exercise, but short of testing more missiles or nuclear devices, there's absolutely no stopping jets it can't see training on land it doesn't control to wipe out their offenses in the case of war.