A pair of B-52s flew a more than 14,000-mile strike mission from Barksdale AFB, La., to Jordan, as part of US Central Command’s Exercise Eager Lion earlier this week, US Strategic Command announced. The flights were “specifically designed to ensure maximum opportunities to synchronize and integrate USSTRATCOM bomber capabilities with regional partners, fostering cooperation and increasing interoperability,” said STRATCOM Commander Adm. Cecil Haney in a release. The 2nd Bomb Wing B-52s flew alongside Jordanian F-16s and coordinated with Jordanian joint terminal attack controllers, demonstrating conventional weapons employment during the more than 30-hour mission, May 17-18. The multi-national exercise included some 10,000 US and partner nation forces, according to the release.
A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes in the Middle East are flying with fresh modifications as the Air Force looks to make the plane more versatile amid America’s ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and a tenuous ceasefire in the U.S. air war against Iran.