The Long-Range Strike Bomber is a critical future capability for Pacific Air Forces, PACAF chief Gen. Lori Robinson told defense writers in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. “The theater is very big,” comprising “52 percent of the world,” Robinson said. It will be essential to “power-project throughout the theater” and “show our commitment” to allies in the region that the US takes its role there seriously and is willing to put its best equipment forward, she added. Robinson expects the LRS-B to take its place in the rotation for the continuous bomber presence deployments to Andersen AFB, Guam, and potentially to Australia, where she said an agreement is near on a routine of deploying USAF bombers and aerial refueling tankers at Royal Australian Air Force Bases Tindal and Darwin. Part of the LRS-B mission will also be “messaging” to US enemies in the region like North Korea, Robinson said, acknowledging that B-2 bombers have been sent to the region to deter North Korea from acting on its belligerent anti-US rhetoric.
The last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.