B-52s Kick Off Bomber Deployment to Spain

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B-52H Stratofortress bombers have arrived in Spain to kick off a new European deployment as the Air Force looks to make its nuclear-armed fleets more flexible.

The Air Force said in a news release that the bombers would operate from “smaller, more flexible locations across Europe and Africa,” a concept the service has also rehearsed with fighter, cargo, and refueling aircraft.

Recent bomber task force missions to Europe have operated mainly out of RAF Fairford, U.K., with long-range flights and air refueling extending their missions.

Two B-52s arrived at Morón Air Base May 20, a defense official told Air & Space Forces Magazine. The bombers are from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., and deployed as the 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron with tail numbers 60-0044 and 60-0004.

“Bomber Task Force Europe is a clear signal of peace through the strength of airpower,” Lt. Gen. Jason T. Hinds, deputy commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, said in a statement. “This BTF deployment will ensure our forces remain resilient, dynamic, and capable of responding to evolving security challenges with speed and precision.”

U.S. defense officials did not preview the missions the bombers planned to conduct during the deployment. The Pentagon typically declines to comment on upcoming bomber operations.

The U.S. is not the only global power flexing its long-range strike capability. On May 20, the same day the B-52s arrived in Europe, two Russian TU-95 strategic bombers flew over the Barents Sea, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defense. The bombers appear to have been carrying air-launched cruise missiles, which are visible in a video released by the Russian government.

The B-52s appear not to have conducted any missions out of Morón since arriving in Spain, according to flight tracking data, though they hooked up with KC-46A Pegasus refuelers from McConnell Air Base, Kan., on their way across the Atlantic.

It is Minot’s second bomber task force deployment of the year to Europe, following another that ended in March. One of the bombers in the current rotation, 60-0044, also participated in the earlier visit, which was based at RAF Fairford and carried out missions across Europe and the Middle East.

Morón Air Base has been a strategic location for the Air Force since the 1950s, when it first served as a key Cold War bomber base and has routinely housed U.S. bombers since then. The U.S. no longer maintains a continuous bomber presence overseas but sends them abroad multiple times a year for training exercises with foreign allies and partners.

U.S. conflicts in the Middle East have also led to rare bomber combat deployments. Four B-52s are currently stationed on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, home to a joint U.S.-U.K. base. Those bombers arrived after six B-2 Spirit stealth bombers participated in the U.S. campaign against the Houthis in Yemen from late March to early May, when the U.S. agreed to a ceasefire with the group. 

In November, six B-52s from Minot headed to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, for a 45-day combat deployment, during which they bombed Islamic State group targets in Syria.

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org