Two B-2A stealth bombers from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo, will temporarily operate from Andersen AFB, Guam, in late January in support of US Pacific Command’s in-theater training objectives, announced Pacific Air Forces officials. “This deployment will provide the opportunity for our airmen to become familiar with operating in the Pacific and exercise the B-2’s ability to employ strategic precision attack capabilities across the globe,” states PACAF’s Jan. 18 release. This is the first time in several years that B-2s will deploy to Andersen. B-2s had been a regular part of the Air Force’s bomber rotations to Guam where the United States has maintained a continual long-range strike presence since 2004. However, the Air Force pulled them from the rotations after the loss of one B-2 in a crash on the island in 2008 and another B-2 incurred severe damage in an engine fire there in 2010. Already on Guam is an expeditionary contingent of airmen and B-52s from Barksdale AFB, La., that deployed to Andersen in October.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
