More than 240 airmen and a small group of B-2A stealth bombers from the 393rd Bomb Squadron at Whiteman AFB, Mo., have arrived at Andersen AFB, Guam, for a several-month deployment in a normal rotation of US combat forces to bolster the Western Pacific region as part of the US strategy to help deter aggression there. The Whiteman contingent relieved an expeditionary unit of airmen and B-52H bombers from the 20th BS at Barksdale AFB, La., that arrived on Guam last fall. This Pacific tour marks the second time that B-2s have been paired with F-22 fighters on Guam. The F-22s touched down in January from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. (Andersen report)
The Air Force wants to pump more than $12 billion over the next five years into its new affordable long-range missiles program and recently asked industry to push the flights of some of those munitions beyond 1,200 miles.