A lone B-52 bomber will participate in a short-term joint training exercise with the Royal Australian Air Force at RAAF Darwin, Australia, this week. “These rotations enhance U.S. ability to train, exercise, and operate with Australia and with other allies and partners across the region,” PACAF stated in a Jan. 23 release. The B-52 is temporarily staged from Andersen AFB, Guam, as part of US Pacific Command’s rotating strategic bomber presence in the Asia-Pacific region, officials said. B-52s from the 20th Bomb Squadron at Barksdale AFB, La., arrived on rotation to the Pacific late last summer. Buff last flew a joint training mission with the Australians from RAAF Darwin in 2012, making simulated weapon drops over the Delamere Training Range there.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.