American B-52 bombers practice bombing over Scotland

American B-52 bombers have been making use of the Tain Air Weapons range north of Inverness in Scotland.

Around midday today, two B-52 bombers working with an RAF Regiment Joint Terminal Attack Controller conducted a practice bombing run at Tain, you can see a video following this in my tweet embedded below.

Their callsigns were HATE11 and HATE13.

A B-52 Bomber has also been conducting practice 'bombing runs' at Holbeach Air Weapons Range in England. pic.twitter.com/bo52pG0TF0

— George Allison (@geoallison) February 10, 2022

UPDATE: A B-52 bomber was also working the range at Holbeach in England at the same time.

The U.S. Air Force said in a statement:

“En route to RAF Fairford, U.S. Bomber Aircraft integrated with British Typhoon aircraft and Portuguese F-16s currently assigned to NATO’s Icelandic Air Policing mission. Bomber aircraft also integrated with British Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC) to conduct bilateral Close Air Support training. The mission focused on enhancing readiness and interoperability for the controllers responsible for coordinating airstrikes to support ground forces.”

The aircraft, along with a number of others, arrived in the UK earlier today as part of a Bomber Task Force deployment.

The U.S. Air FOrce also said:

“B-52 Stratofortress aircraft, support equipment, and personnel from the 5th Bomb Wing, Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, arrived at RAF Fariford, England, today to execute the long-planned Bomber Task Force mission, a regularly scheduled U.S. European Command and U.S. Strategic Command joint mission series.

Regularly integrating with our allies improves our cooperation and operational capacity, capability and interoperability. Occurring since 2018, bomber rotations through Europe maintain our readiness to execute a wide variety of missions across two continents, sustaining peace through deterrence.”

It should be noted that ‘Bomber Task Force’ missions regularly visit the UK, with the most recent being a B-2 stealth bomber. You can read more about the previous deployment by clicking here.

The US Air Force explains the purpose of Bomber Task Force missions as follows “by training in Europe, aircrew and Airmen are familiarizing themselves with the European theater and airspace, to enhance enduring skills and relationships with allies and partners”.

On their website, the U.S. Air Force describe the bomber as follows:

“The B-52H Stratofortress is a long-range, heavy bomber that can perform a variety of missions. The bomber is capable of flying at high subsonic speeds at altitudes of up to 50,000 feet (15,166.6 meters). It can carry nuclear or precision guided conventional ordnance with worldwide precision navigation capability. In a conventional conflict, the B-52 can perform strategic attack, close-air support, air interdiction, offensive counter-air and maritime operations.

B-52s are equipped with advanced targeting pods. Targeting pods provide improved long-range target detection, identification and continuous stabilized surveillance for all missions, including close air support of ground forces. The advanced targeting and image processing technology significantly increases the combat effectiveness of the B-52 during day, night and less than ideal weather conditions when attacking ground targets with a variety of standoff weapons (e.g., laser-guided bombs, conventional bombs and GPS-guided weapons). The use of aerial refuelling gives the B-52 a range limited only by aircrew endurance. It has an unrefueled combat range in excess of 8,800 miles (14,080 kilometres).”

For more than 60 years, B-52s have been the backbone of the strategic bomber force for the United States.

A B-52 Bomber has also been conducting practice 'bombing runs' at Holbeach Air Weapons Range in England. pic.twitter.com/bo52pG0TF0

— George Allison (@geoallison) February 10, 2022