by Oui
Sun Mar 12th, 2023 at 05:47:46 PM EST
Translation:
Polish fighter jets once again escorted an American B-52 bomber. This is an important part of the interoperability exercise. Together, we care for the security of NATO's eastern flank.
Boeing B52H Stratofortress over Baltic Sea 2019
Translation:
16:25 Moscow time
Strategic bomber #Boeing B-52H #Stratofortress of the US Air Force 🇺🇸, tail number 61-0009, training exercise of the bombing of the base of the Baltic fleet.
#USAF #B52
[Information corrected from 61-0009 to 60-0058]
"USAF B-52 flying over the Baltic Sea turned around after being tracked by Russian Air Defense System," Russian MoD Says
The Russian Ministry of Defence has confirmed that a USAF B-52H was spotted flying over neutral waters in the Baltic Sea, adding that the plane's sudden U-turn maneuver was made after it was picked up by Russian air defenses.
"On March 15, 2019, a US Air Force B-52 aircraft with its transponder switched on performed a flight over international waters of the Baltic Sea parallel to Russia's territorial waters," the ministry said in a statement.
"The plane did not approach Russia's border closer than 150 kilometers, and turned around immediately after Russian air defence systems on combat duty tracked it," the statement added.
In 2017, the last time that a USAF B-52H was reported operating near Russia's borders over the Baltic Sea, a Su-27 fighter was scrambled to intercept and escort it out of the area.
According to a USAF press release, a Bomber Task Force deployment of B-52 Stratofortress aircraft, Airmen and support equipment from the 2nd Bomb Wing, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, have arrived in the U.S. European Command area of operations for a deployment to conduct theater integration and flying training, on Mar. 14.
US Air Force B-52s arrive at RAF Fairford for BTF Europe | AF Mil. on 10 February 2022 |
RAF Fairford, UK (AFNS) -- B52H Stratofortress aircraft, support equipment and personnel from the 5th Bomb Wing, Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota arrived at Royal Air Force Fairford, Feb. 10 to execute the long-planned Bomber Task Force mission, a regularly-scheduled U.S. European Command and U.S. Strategic Command joint mission series.
En route to RAF Fairford, U.S. bomber aircraft integrated with British Typhoon aircraft and Portuguese F-16s currently assigned to NATO's Icelandic Air Policing mission. Bomber aircraft also integrated with British Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC) to conduct bilateral close air support training. The mission focused on enhancing readiness and interoperability for the controllers responsible for coordinating airstrikes to support ground forces.
B52 bombers stationed at RAF Fairford will one day carry 'stealth' nukes | 18 Feb. 2023 |
A US defence company has been awarded a contract to develop "electronic interface control" capabilities for the B52 bomber to deploy the in-development "Long Range Stand-Off" (LRSO) nuclear weapon. This confirms that the 70-year-old bomber, frequently stationed at RAF Fairford, will be able to launch the US Air Force's next generation of long-range nuclear missiles, which will be able to evade air defences and strike at targets more than 1500 miles away.
Details about this weapon are closely guarded but it is understood that the next generation of US nuclear deterrent, which has an estimated development cost of more than $12bn, would be launched from far outside a country's territory and be capable of carrying an adjustable nuclear warhead, either a third the size of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, or ten times larger than it. From the B52 would be able to take a short trip just past Southend-on-Sea, and strike Moscow.
USAF B-52H Stratofortress flies @20km near Kaliningrad
Yesterday a B52H was spotted over land in airspace of the Baltic States a distance of 500 mi (800km) from Moscow. Flight path nears Russian border of Kaliningrad at 20 km. Close encounter.
The B-52 Bomber: The Iconic U.S. Instrument of Nuclear Combat and Coercion | NTI - May 2022 |
It should come as no surprise that the U.S. Air Force dispatched four B-52H Stratofortress bombers from the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Royal Air Force Base Fairford in the United Kingdom on February 10 as part of a European buildup in anticipation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.1 Of all the weapons in the U.S. inventory, none can deliver greater quantities of explosive ordnance, whether nuclear or conventional, and none has the same capacity to arouse awe and trepidation in the minds of potential targets.
B-52s deployed to Fairford in recent years have been sent over the Black and Baltic seas on simulated air strikes aimed at key Russian ports, air bases, radar stations, and command posts. Given this history, the recent dispatch to Europe of potentially nuclear-armed bombers was surely intended to signal a U.S. intent to inflict severe harm on Russia if it attacked a NATO member state or U.S. forces stationed in Europe--exactly the sort of coercive messaging B-52s have long performed.
The Boeing Stratofortress, known in Air Force circles as the BUFF, for Big Ugly Fat Fucker, flew for the first time 70 years ago on April 15, 1952. Originally developed by U.S. Strategic Air Command (SAC) at the end of World War II to deliver atomic bombs on the Soviet Union, it constituted the principal U.S. instrument for obliterating Soviet cities, bases, and industrial centers in the early years of the Cold War. Later, during the Vietnam War, it was converted into a colossal flying dump truck for raining conventional ordnance on enemy positions in South Vietnam and strategic targets in North Vietnam, thus earning a reputation as a particularly dreaded bearer of death and destruction.
Since Vietnam, the BUFF has retained its original nuclear role, although it has also been used on several occasions, notably in Iraq and Afghanistan, to deliver conventional munitions on the battlefield. Under the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which was renewed in February 2021 for five years, B-52s, along with some B-2 stealth bombers, are covered under the category of allowable U.S. nuclear delivery systems, and 40 out of 46 nuclear-capable H-model BUFFs presently are assigned to this role.2 To ensure the B-52 will continue flying for decades to come, all remaining aircraft are being refitted with new Rolls-Royce jet engines, extending the plane's service life well into the 2050s and making this the longest-serving combat aircraft in the history of aviation.
Exercise Global Shield '82
I had a unique opportunity to experience the BUFF's incredible capacity to inspire awe in July 1982 when I observed a simulated nuclear strike on the Soviet Union as a freelance journalist covering exercise Global Shield '82, SAC's largest nuclear war exercise until that time. According to the preflight briefings I received, Global Shield '82 was intended to test SAC's ability to conduct worldwide nuclear strike operations under simulated "general war" conditions, meaning a full-scale thermonuclear contest between the United States and the Soviet Union. This was a time of heightened tensions with Moscow, coinciding with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and other superpower flare-ups.
The 1983 Nuclear Crisis - Lessons for Deterrence Theory and Practice | by Dmitry Dima Adamsky - 14 July 2012 |
Utilizing newly available sources, this article suggests an alternative interpretation of Soviet and US conduct. It argues that the then US deterrence strategy almost produced Soviet nuclear overreaction by nearly turning a NATO exercise into a prelude to a preventive Soviet attack. Building on historical findings, this article offers insights about a mechanism for deterrence effectiveness evaluation, recommends establishing a structure responsible for this endeavor, and introduces a new theoretical term to the strategic studies lexicon - a 'culminating point of deterrence'.
The 1983 Military Drill That Nearly Sparked Nuclear War With the Soviets | Smithsonian - April 2022 |
Fearful that the Able Archer 83 exercise was a cover for a NATO nuclear strike, the U.S.S.R. readied its own weapons for launch
Early in the next decade, with new leadership on both sides, détente had evaporated. After taking office in 1981, Reagan matched his campaign rhetoric by initiating a doubling of the defense budget. Soviet leader Yuri Andropov, who assumed power the following year, came to the job after heading the KGB, where he initiated Operation RYaN, whose name is an acronym describing a sudden nuclear attack. "The main objective of our intelligence service is not to miss the military preparations of the enemy ... for a nuclear strike," Andropov said in 1981.
Operation RYaN lent itself to confirmation bias, with many routine activities--such as official visits or blood drives--feeding fears of war. And when it came to looking for signs of imminent attack, Able Archer fit the bill.
Nuclear escalation just around the corner #biden #Putin #jinping
Declared a Nuclear Terrorist State
The E-6B Mercury is a US military strategic control and communications aircraft and the US Navy's air command post. It is also called a "doomsday aircraft".
It is designed to communicate with nuclear-powered strategic submarines that carry intercontinental ballistic missiles. These are Ohio-class submarines. Each submarine can carry up to 24 Trident II D5 missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Half a million march to protest the deployment of US Cruise Missiles in Europe as reaction to mobile SS-20 Soviet missiles pointing towards Western Europe.
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