A B-52 from the 2nd Bomb Wing recently completed a roughly 30-hour nonstop sortie from Barksdale AFB, La., to Postojna, Slovenia, where it participated in Exercise Immediate Response 2015 and ?then returned home, according to an Air Force Global Strike Command release. While in Slovenia, the bomber aided Slovenian and US joint terminal attack controllers, providing close air support during training exercises. The bomber also conducted a low-altitude pass for distinguished visitors and leaders. The exercise provided aircrew an opportunity to train with coalition partners and foster multinational integration, practice the B-52’s capability to transit several areas of responsibility on a single sortie, and hit “very precise objectives on the ground,” said Capt. Ryan Loucks, the 96th Bomb Squadron’s assistant director of operations. EIR 2015 is a multinational exercise using computer-assisted simulations along with field training at locations in Croatia and Slovenia. The long-range sortie follows a June deployment of three B-52s from Minot AFB, N.D., to RAF Fairford, England, where they participated in BALTOPS and Exercise Saber Strike.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
