U.S. Air Forces have announced that two B-52H Stratofortress long-range bombers along with aircrew and support personnel arrived at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Darwin to enable the U.S. to train and increase interoperability with Australian counterparts. United States Air Force carried out an exercise involving the B-52H Stratofortress bombers, the aim of which was to train the capabilities of carrying out long-range sorties.Two bombers flew from the Barksdale AFB to Australia for 44 hours, without any stopovers. The deployment is part of the Enhanced Air Cooperation (EAC) under the Force Posture Initiative between the United States and Australia.
While at RAAF Base Darwin, the detachment, alongside their RAAF counterparts, will provide support to a wide range of exercises and training activities. The bombers also executed a low-pass over the Australian Tindal Airbase. The USAF B-52 Bombers, from Pacific Air Force’s Andersen Air Force base in Guam, will train with RAAF F/A-18 Super Hornetss and PC-9 aircraft as well as ADF Joint Terminal Attack Controllers. Through this EAC initiative and the continued enhancement of the RAAF facilities, Pacific Air Forces and the RAAF continue to build upon their individual and combined capabilities, advancing interoperability between the nations.
Enhancing the ability to conduct joint and combined missions from northern Australia is an integral part of the Force Posture Agreement and contributes greatly to regional security, stability and combined readiness. Sequenced missions with Australia highlight the 100 years of “mateship” between the two nations, emphasizing bonds that date back to World War I. The U.S. and Australia have a longstanding history of maintaining regional stability by demonstrating the strength of their alliance and military-to-military partnership. The routine employment of Continuous Bomber Presence missions is in accordance with international law and is vital to the principles that are the foundation of the rules-based global operating system
The B-52H is the US Air Force’s long-range, large-payload multirole bomber and is known as the Stratofortress or the Buff (big ugly fat fellow). It is the USAF’s principal strategic nuclear and conventional weapons platform, and supports the US Navy in anti-surface and submarine warfare missions. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) since the 1950s. The last production aircraft, B-52H AF Serial No. 61-0040, left the factory on 26 October 1962. This is the only variant still in use by the USAF, a total of 102 B-52Hs were built.
