American B-52 Bombers, Escorted By SAAB Gripens, F-35 Stealth Fighters ‘Drop Bombs’ At Russia’s Doorsteps

The United States recently dispatched four nuclear-capable B-52 Bombers to Europe, at Russia’s ‘doorstep.’ The bombers have reportedly practiced dropping bombs not too far from Russia, which could send alarm bells ringing in Moscow.

American B-52 strategic bombers, some of which could have brought nuclear weapons to Europe, staged strikes in the Arctic region, only 400 kilometers from the Russian border, local Russian media reported.

EurAsian Times had recently reported that four American B-52s left the Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota for Fairford Air Force base in the UK.

On August 18, the bombers joined two Swedish JAS Gripen and two Norwegian F-35 fighter aircraft west of Andøya, North Norway, for Bomber Task Force drills.

The B-52s were escorted by Swedish JAS 39 Gripen aircraft over the Swedish airspace, followed by bombing the targets that the Swedish ground forces had picked out in the terrain on the Vidsel firing range, according to the Swedish Armed Forces Forsvarsmakten. The American bombers dropped three GBU-32 bombs.

The exercise also included the Norwegian fighters with one of the B-52s training with the Norwegian Army at the Setermoen firing range. The US routinely conducts BTF drills with Norway, with the last edition in February when British and Norwegian F-35s worked out air-to-air maneuvers with US B-52s.

The B-52-led drills with Sweden are significant as the latter is becoming a member of NATO. With Sweden and Finland joining NATO, the Nordic nations will have about 250 modern combat aircraft.

Bomber Task Force Mission To Deter Russia.
So far, the B-52s from Minot have visited RAF Fairford twice this year for a bomber task force mission.

Before Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, the US Air Force dispatched B-52 Stratofortress bombers to Royal Air Force Fairford in February of this year to participate in a meticulously planned Bomber Task Force mission. The bomber crews were engaged in integration missions at the time, landing in the Czech Republic to practice quick-turn sortie regeneration and theatre acclimatization.

Even when the news of the Bomber deployment to Fairford Air Force Base in the UK broke out a few days ago, the US Air Force did not specify that the bombers were being dispatched to Europe for BTF drills in the eastern flank of NATO.

The Bomber flights are regular over Europe and the Pacific. The Barents Sea to the north of Russia, the Sea of Okhotsk off the coast of Far East Russia, and the Black Sea close to Crimea are among the critical areas that US bombers have been flying over more frequently in recent times.

However, the BTF mission being carried out when Russia is fighting a bloody war in Ukraine is significant. Russia takes a strict exception against NATO’s eastward expansion closer to its borders, with Sweden and Finland being a no-go zone.