Defense & Intelligence Policy, Business and Technology

In a rarity, the Air Force temporarily deploys three kinds of bombers to the Pacific

The Washington Post: B-52 Stratofortress bombers began arriving Tuesday at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, temporarily providing the Pentagon with a rarity as tensions with North Korea percolate: the presence of three kinds of bombers in the Pacific.

The six B-52s and 300 airmen from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana will take over the U.S. military’s “continuous bomber presence” mission in the Pacific from a unit of B-1B Lancer bombers at the end of the month, Air Force officials said in a news release. The mission, which has existed since 2004, is designed to reassure U.S. allies in the region and show strength against China, North Korea and other potential adversaries.

The B-52s and B-1s will be joined in Guam by three B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, which deployed last week from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. The bat-winged bomber arrived in what the Pentagon characterized as a short-term deployment, giving the Pentagon an unusually robust show of force this month in Guam until the B-1s return to Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. The Pentagon last had three kinds of bombers deployed in the Pacific in 2016.

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