PEARL HARBOR (Eagle News) — Four American B-52H Stratofortress bomber aircraft have landed at Andersen Air Base, Guam, the US Air Force has announced.
The planes are there to conduct operations as part of a Bomber Task Force in the Indo-Pacific region.
The aircraft were deployed from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana to support US training efforts by the Indo-Pacific Command and Pacific Air Forces. Forces from other service branches and partner nations will also take part.
“The Air Force is currently working in a complex, dynamic, and sometimes volatile global security environment,” said Col. Mark Dmytryszyn, 2nd Bomber Wing Commander. “It is our charge to regularly conduct these joint and combined security cooperation engagements across different Geographic Combatant Commands and their areas of operation.”
Focus on B-52s
This exercise focuses on using B-52s rather than the B-1 Lancer, which has been used in the past.
“These BTF missions demonstrate the strategic credibility and tactical flexibility of our forces to address today’s matters,” said Dmytryszyn. “As an aircraft capable of employing with a wide variety of nuclear and conventional weapons, delivered across a continent-spanning range, employing global joint all-domain command and control systems, the B-52 remains a universally-recognized symbol of America’s assurances to our Allies, our partners, and the world.”
Bomber task force deployments have been a regular occurrence since 2014. They give the US Strategic Command an opportunity to evaluate and improve the readiness of strategic assets within the Indo-Pacific region.
They also provide a persistent, long-term bomber presence in the Indo-Pacific theater and around the globe.
Since 1954, the B-52 series aircraft has served the Air Force as a long-range, heavy bomber. It is capable of flying at high, subsonic speeds at altitudes of up to 50,000 feet (15,166.6 meters). The planes have a range up to 7,652 nautical miles and a maximum payload of 70,000 pounds (31,500 kilograms).
The Stratofortress has undergone numerous modifications for various missions. Its most current model, the B-52H, is expected to remain in service through the year 2050.
(Eagle News Service)