Airmen from Minot AFB, N.D., recently joined the US Navy and British and Canadian forces, and other NATO allies for Trident Fury—a training exercise held off the coast of Vancouver Island, Canada. In this exercise comprising more than 2,000 personnel, 50 aircraft, and an unknown number of ships, Minot’s B-52s dropped 18 Md-62 Quicksilver naval training mines into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.