Nuclear-Capable US Bomber Trains on NATO Flank Near Russia

The United States dispatched one of its nuclear-capable, long-range bombers to Finland this week on a training mission aimed at reinforcing NATO’s eastern flank against the threat from Russia.

According to the Finnish Air Force, a U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress trained with Finnish F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets over Finland on Tuesday. The bomber entered the Nordic country from the north and exited via the Gulf of Bothnia to the west.

The Barents Observer, a Norwegian online newspaper, identified the American bomber as nuclear-capable based on its serial number. The U.S. military has a 76-strong fleet of B-52H aircraft, but only 46 of them can carry nuclear AGM-86B air-launched cruise missiles.

Two days later, another Stratofortress conducted a training mission over Finland. It was joined by Finnish F/A-18 and Swedish JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets. Finland and Sweden are the newest members of NATO.

“Training missions conducted with allies are part of the normal collective defense of the alliance,” said the Finnish Air Force, adding the U.S. is an important and close ally of Finland, and mutual defense cooperation strengthens the country’s defense capability.

Two B-52s made history in July by flying over Finland for the first time. Russia claimed that the American bombers were intercepted by its fighter jets over the Barents Sea and “turned away” from its airspace.

The Barents Sea lies north of Finland, Sweden and Norway, as well as northwestern Russia. It serves as the major waterway for the Russian Northern Fleet’s ships to “break out” into the North Atlantic Ocean from their main base in Severomorsk.

However, the training flight in the summer did not involve nuclear-capable bombers, according to the Barents Observer.

According to Hans Kristensen, the director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, “nuclear-capable” means an aircraft is equipped to carry nuclear weapons, not that it is necessarily carrying them.

The B-52H has an unrefueled range of 8,800 miles, and it can deliver 70,000 pounds of nuclear or conventional ordnance, including bombs and missiles.

Following the training flights over Finland this week, both American bombers flew westward to the United Kingdom, where they landed at Fairford air base in England, according to a local plane spotter. A third B-52H also arrived at the air base on Tuesday.

All three bombers are stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, one of the two operational homes of the B-52H, the other being Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota.

On November 1, the U.S. Air Force announced that a bomber task force was scheduled to transit from the continental U.S. to Europe for deployment “in the coming days.” The statement did not reveal the type and number of bombers, or the location of the deployment.

“During the deployment, U.S. bomber aircrews will train and operate alongside NATO allies and partners for several weeks, demonstrating the U.S. commitment to global security and stability,” the U.S. Air Force added, saying the deployment was long-planned.

A fleet of six B-52H bombers, including five nuclear-capable aircraft, are now deployed at an air base in Qatar, where satellite imagery on Tuesday captured them parking in an open area within the base, 731 miles south of Iran’s capital city Tehran.