NATO confirms length of Fairford B-52 deployment

The length of deployment for the four USAF B-52Hs currently operating from RAF Fairford has been revealed by NATO.

The jets touched down at the Gloucestershire base on August 18 at the start of a Bomber Task Force deployment. In a statement relating to a sortie over Slovakia the military alliance said the B-52Hs would be “operating alongside Allies across the continent during similar missions for the next two months.”

**One of the four B-52H Stratofortress bombers on approach to RAF Fairford on August 18, 2022 at the start of BTF 22-3.** MOD Crown Copyright/Cpl Matthews

The aircraft are from the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot AFB, North Dakota and it is the second time this year that the wing has undertaken a deployment to the Gloucestershire base.

US Air Force General James Hecker, USAFE-AFAFRICA and AIRCOM commander said: “…Bomber Task Force missions across Europe provide a great opportunity to improve our combined readiness, promote interoperability and demonstrate our global power projection alongside our Allies. Our ultimate strength in the European area of operations is a joint-force lethality – our ability to train and operate with our Allies and partners as one layered, capable and credible combat team.”

Read a from the cockpit report of a B-52 European sortie