The united states air force's B-52
stratofortress has logged a lot of miles
since it first took flight some 70 years
ago
and now some of those cold war era
bombers could be described as being on
different legs of a world tour
simultaneously. Currently there are B-52hs deployed to
europe, the middle east and the
indo-pacific theaters, a testament to the
versatility and reliability of the
platform.
Last month in correlation with a bomber
task force deployment two B-52h bombers
from the fifth bomb wing, Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota arrived at al-ubiat
air base qatar may 4th. Those bombers joined four B-52s that had
been previously sent to al udeid in late
april. The bombers are there to protect the
orderly and responsible withdrawal of
united states and coalition forces from
afghanistan.
At the time four B-52hs were also
deployed from the second bomb wing, Barksdale Air Force Base Louisiana to Anderson Air Base Guam to conduct
operations in the indo-pacific region. Whilst an additional force of six
bombers from barksdale air force base
were sent to air base, spain
marking the third area of operations for
the stratofortresses.
Said Admiral Charles Chaz Richard u.s
strategic command commander
the speed flexibility and readiness of
our strategic bombers play a critical
role in our ability to deter potential
adversaries and signal our unwavering
support to our allies and partners. Missions like this provide invaluable
training opportunities with our allies
and partners to improve our
interoperability and demonstrate that
our forces are capable of operating
anywhere, anytime to meet any challenge
decisively, added Admiral Richard.
The air force has noted that bomber task
force deployments have been a regular
occurrence since 2014 and these provide
us strategic command and opportunity to
evaluate and improve the readiness of
strategic assets within the indo-pacific
region. These bomber task forces provide a
persistent long-term bomber presence
around the globe.
The air force is currently working in a
complex dynamic and sometimes volatile
global security environment, explained
colonel mark dimitrizin second BW Commander.
"It is our charge to regularly conduct
these joint and combined security
cooperation engagements across different
geographic combatant commands in their
areas of operation," added Kernel Dimitrizine.
"This bomber task force deployment has
been focused on the employment of the B-52 rather than the B-1 lancer which
has been used in the past. These bomber task force missions
demonstrate the strategic credibility
and tactical flexibility of our forces
to address today's matters," said Dimitrizen.
As an aircraft capable of employing 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. The B-52 stratofortress has been
massively overhauled and will soon get
new engines, internal weapons bays, intelligence, electronic warfare systems
and networking technologies and sensors.
Subscribe Daily Post or Follow Google News to update information quickly or visit this Link: https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKML-1rAswzMDEAw
