A B-52 bomber on rotation to Andersen AFB, Guam, will head to RAAF Darwin in Northwestern Australia this week to “take part in short-term training” with the Royal Australian Air Force, states a Pacific Air Forces release. The bomber also will carry Air Force personnel to aid planning for Australia’s Pitch Black large-force employment exercise later this year. An Air Force Global Strike Command B-52 flew to Australia for cooperative training earlier this year and “decisions on future rotations remain under discussion,” states the PACAF release. Pitch Black is the RAAF’s largest international exercise and will include the Dutch, Emirati, French, Korean, Thai, Singaporean, and New Zealand participants this year, reported the UAE’s The National. The three-week exercise will be held at Darwin in August.
U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter jets were observed flying toward the Middle East on Feb. 11, the latest step in the U.S. military buildup in the region as the Trump administration weighs possible strikes on Iran.
