Three B-52 bombers flying with Norwegian F-16s. Photo: Norwegian Air Force
B-52 flights close to homeport and patrol areas for Russia's ballistic missile subs
Three U.S. B-52 strategic bombers; P8 maritime patrol aircraft,
tankers and a RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft were flying over the
Barents Sea on Wednesday. Norwegian F-16 fighter jets followed the huge
American bombers to 31° East.
The skies above the Barents Sea were for hours literally crowded with NATO planes.
For the third time this autumn, U.S. strategic bombers were flying
north of the Arctic Circle in Europe. This time, however, the planes
went much deeper into international airspace near facilities of high
importance for Russia’s military.
Operating from Fairford air base in Great Britain, the three B-52H
Stratofortress “returned today from flights in the Barents Sea region of
the Arctic Circle,” a short press release from U.S. Air Forces in Europe reads.
Asked to elaborate on the flight patterns, spokesperson 1st Lt Madeline Krpan doesn’t want to go in detail.
“For operational security reasons, we are not able to provide more
specific details on the location of the mission flown,” she writes in a
e-mail to the Barents Observer.
Several Russia web sites, like Operativnaya and Avia.Pro, though, write about the routing of the flights.
The planes were flying together up north along the coast of Norway
before taking an eastern route into the Barents Sea from north of North
Cape.
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Somewhere north of Finnmark the planes spread into three different
directions; one stayed in the western Barents Sea, one flew northeast to
the coast of Novaya Zemlya and one flew along the coast of the Kola
Peninsula towards Kap Kanin at the entrance to the White Sea.
Russia’s ballistic missile subs of the Delta-IV and Borei-class have homeport in Gadzhiyevo
and other advanced nuclear-powered submarines are based in the same
area. The strategic submarines (SSBN) are patroling the eastern Barents
Sea and Arctic Ocean.
Last week, a Bulava—missile was test-launched from the newest Borei-class from submerged position in the White Sea.
Two Norwegian F-16s follow the B-52 bomber. Photo: US Air Force Europe
Five Norwegian F-16 fighter jets were flying together with the three
B-52s along the coast of Norway and into the western sector of the
Barents Sea.
Spokesperson Major Brynjar Stordal with the Norwegian Armed Forces
confirms to the Barents Observer that the F-16s changed course and
headed in different directions.
“They did not fly together at all time,” he says.
The Norwegian fighter jets, however, did not fly into the eastern part of the Barents Sea.
“The Norwegian planes flew to approximately 31° East”, Stordal elaborates.
31° East is the same longitude as Vardø, the easternmost town on the Norwegian Barents Sea coast.
While the Norwegian F-16s did not fly further east along the coast of
the Kola Peninsula or northeast in the Barents Sea, the American
bombers seem to have continued.
The site EurAsia Daily
writes that B-52s were within a range of 100 kilometers from both the
bases of the Northern Fleet and the central training ground of the
Defense Ministry at Novaya Zemlya.
Also the twitter account Mil Radar, known for reliable tracking of
military aircraft in northern Europe, has plotted the B-52s to be flying
a route across the Barents Sea to the western coast of Novaya Zemlya.
Additional to the fighter jets and long-range bombers, U.S. Navy P8
maritime patrol aircraft, KS-135 tanker and RC-135 surveillance plane
were flying over the Barents Sea at the time.
“The flight included integration and interoperability with the
Norwegian Air Force, as well as maritime training with U.S. Navy P8s,”
the press release from U.S. Air Force in Europe reads.
Spokesperson Madeline Krpan explains the mission:
“Bomber Task Force 20-1 is part of a routine forward deployment of
bomber aircraft in the European theater that demonstrates the U.S.
commitment to the collective defense of the NATO alliance, as well as
the visible demonstration of the U.S. capability of extended
deterrence.”
Major Brynjar Stordal says the F-16s got aerial refueling by the American tanker aircraft.
Russian fighter jets did not intercept the American bombers during the mission.
“We are not aware of any Russian military intercepts on this mission,” says 1st Lt. with the U.S. Air Force, Madeline Krpan.
Without mentioning any intercepts for the flights over the Barents
Sea this Wednesday, Russian military informs that it scrambled 11 times
during the course of the week in connection with the appearance of
foreign aircraft near Russian borders, Interfax reports with reference to the military newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda on Friday.
One of the B-52 bombers followed by Norwegian F-16s. Photo: Norwegian Air Force
Wednesday’s flight mission is according to open sources the third
time this autumn U.S. strategic bombers are flying into the Arctic near
Norway.
In early September, a B2 Spirit stealth bomber crossed the Arctic
Circle. “This was the aircraft’s first mission this far north in the
European theater,” the Barents Observer reported with reference to U.S. Air Force Europe.
On October 30th, a B-52 was flying off the coast of Troms, northern Norway, in a joint drill with Norwegian F-16s, the Armed Forces reported.
U.S. Air Force Europe is unwilling to talk about possible new bomber plane missions:
“To preserve operational security, we will not confirm or discuss details of future operations.”
Russia resumed flights with long-range strategic bombers, like the
Tu-95 and Tu-160, around the coast of Norway in 2007. Norwegian F-16s on
alert for NATO at Bodø air base are regularly scrambled to identify the
Russian planes flying out to international airspace from the Kola
Peninsula and over the Barents-, Norwegian- and North Seas. … We hope you like to read our articles.
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