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.
Pentagon officials overseeing homeland counter-drone strategy told lawmakers that even with preliminary moves to bolster U.S. base defenses, the military still lacks the capability to comprehensively identify, track, and engage hostile drones like those that breached the airspace of Langley Air Force Base in Virginia for 17 days in December…