A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress, assigned to the 23rd Bomb Squadron, passes the air traffic control tower during takeoff for a Bomber Task Force mission at Minot Air Force Base, September 10, 2024. U.S. Air Force photo
“Executing these multidomain exercises ensures NATO assets are ready to respond to any potential threat to the Alliance,” added Hecker, calling the bomber mission “successful.”
This marks the second B-52 appearance in Europe in three months. In July, two B-52s from the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., touched down at Mihail Kogălniceanu for the first time, also marking the bomber’s inaugural flight through Finnish airspace. After crossing Norway and Finland, the bombers were intercepted by two Russian fighters over the Barents Sea. The intercept remained professional—unlike past encounters over the region.
This latest mission in Poland also coincided with a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to meet with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski on Sept. 12. A day earlier, Blinken and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy were in Ukraine, meeting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and top officials to discuss continued support for Kyiv’s defense against Russia. Poland has voiced its support for Ukraine’s ongoing calls for the West to approve long-range missile strikes into Russia to counter Moscow’s aerial attacks.
“As the West, we shall continue supplying Ukraine with advanced air defense and antimissiles defense systems,” Sikorski said in a joint press conference. “We shall also lift the ban on using long-range weapons…. and we hope that more intense activities will be taken with regard to seizing frozen Russian assets.”
Blinken, however, declined to commit to doing so.
“What we learned from our Ukrainian partners will inform discussions that we’ll be having with other allies and other partners in the days and weeks ahead, as we work through and think through the coming months,” he said.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ignited a full-scale war on Europe’s eastern edge, NATO members have been ramping up efforts to bolster their militaries and conduct exercises. While the U.S. began bomber task force missions in Europe in 2018, there has been a steady rotation in recent months.
Source link : https://www.airandspaceforces.com/b-52-bombers-poland-nato-exercise/
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Publish date : 2024-09-12 07:00:00
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