A U.S. B-52H Stratofortress is currently taking part in a joint air drill with the South Korean Air Force on the Korean Peninsula.

The military revealed the long-range strategic bomber's participation on Monday while withholding details about the exercise, although similar drills in the past involving a U.S. bomber have featured a joint escort by South Korean and U.S. fighter jets flying in formation around the bomber.

The deployment of the B-52 on the peninsula for the first time since last December has been interpreted as an advance warning to North Korea against further provocations with just a week left until the allies conduct their joint springtime "Freedom Shield" military exercise.

Capable of traveling more than six-thousand-400 kilometers and carrying a payload of up to 31 tons , including air-to-surface nuclear missiles with a range of 200 kilometers, the B-52 is one of America's three main bombers along with the B-1B and B-2, the latter of which can also carry nuclear weapons.