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The U.S. Air Force has released some gorgeous shots of B-52Hs flying with
Norwegian F-16 Viper fighter jets over the Norwegian Sea, including uncommon
shots of five of the bombers flying together above the clouds. The lumbering
aircraft have been flying training missions across Europe from RAF Fairford in
the United Kingdom for more than two weeks as part of a regional deployment.
The flight over the Norwegian Sea occurred on Mar. 28, 2019 and involved five
B-52Hs together with a pair of Royal Norwegian Air Force F-16AMs and a lone
two-seat F-16BM. The Bomber Task Force consisting of six B-52Hs, also commonly
called BUFFs, for Big Ugly Fat Fellows, first arrived at RAF Fairford on Mar.
14, 2019. All of the bombers are from the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force
Base in Louisiana.
The flights with the Royal Norwegian Air Force F-16AM/BMs gave the bomber crews
an opportunity to familiarize themselves with operating in that part of the
world and "to demonstrate U.S. commitment to allies and partners through the
global employment of our military forces," according to an official Air Force
statement.
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The Kremlin has been decried the bomber deployment and was particularly
sensitive about the B-52s flying over the Baltic Sea near its the Kaliningrad
enclave. Kaliningrad is geographically separated from the rest of Russia and
contains a number of key Russian military installations, including a warm water
port that serves as the home of the country's Baltic Fleet.
“On March 15, 2019, a US Air Force B-52 aircraft with the transponder switched
on performed a flight over international waters of the Baltic Sea parallel to
Russia’s territorial waters,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said in on Mar.
16, 2019. “The plane did not approach Russia’s border closer than 150 kilometers
[93 miles] and turned around immediately after Russian air defense systems on
combat duty tracked it.”
The clear implication was that the bombers were practicing for mock attack runs
on the enclave, akin to the accusations Norway has leveled at Russia over
apparent simulated strikes on a secretive radar installation near the town of
Vardø. But while the Norwegian government has provided evidence of the Kremlin's
activities, there is no clear indication that the B-52s conducted any overly
aggressive maneuvering in the Baltic.
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