The U.S. Air Force is sending bombers with thousands of hours of combat experience to Guam this week to bolster the U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific, the service says.

The B-1B Lancer bombers from the 34th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron dropped more than 2,000 "smart bombs" during more than 630 missions over Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan from January to July of 2015, officials at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam said. Those missions covered more than 7,000 hours of flight time.

"The B-1 units bring a unique perspective and years of repeated combat and operational experience from the Central Command theater to the Pacific," said a statement from Pacific Air Forces headquarters in Hawaii.

Guam is a U.S.-controlled island territory in the western Pacific, some 1,550 miles east of the Philippines.

"With a large weapon capacity and exceptional standoff strike capability, the B-1 will provide U.S. Pacific Command and its regional allies and partners with a credible, strategic power projection platform," the statement said.

The B-1s, which are expected to arrive in Guam on Saturday, come to the region during a time of heightened tensions, mainly arising from territorial claims among China and other nations over islands in the South China Sea and missile tests from North Korea that on Wednesday saw one missile fall in waters that Japan considers part of its exclusive economic zone....