Last Friday (26) the United States Air Force (USAF) conducted maneuvers with its B-1B Lancer supersonic bombers in conjunction with F-35A Lightning II fighters of the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) over the eastern part of the Barents Sea.
It is not the first time that the B-1Bs have flown over the region, however, it is the first time they have done so operating from air bases in Norway.
Aircraft from the 7th Bomb Wing are deployed to Norway for a Bomber Task Force (BTF) exercise, where they operate fifth generation fighters of the local air force.
“It is appropriate to kick off this BTF with a mission that highlights our ability to integrate with our Norwegian allies across multiple domains”, said General Jeff Harrigian, commander of US Air Forces in Europe and Africa.
The site The Aviationist explains that the maneuvers carried out on Friday are interesting due to their location. The area flown by American bombers and Norwegian fighters is known for “Russian Navy Backyard” ou “Russian Naval Yard”, a region under the responsibility of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy.
According to the portal, the Northern Fleet's ballistic missile submarines are responsible for the ability to Russia's Secondary Nuclear Attack, that is, it has great strategic importance for the country.
B-1B Bombers from Dyess Air Force Base @usairforce
landed at Ørland Airbase today. This is an important training mission for the Norwegian Armed Forces together with allies.@US_EUCOM @NATO_AIRCOM @usembassyoslo pic.twitter.com/e89iX2FUAD— Royal Norwegian Air Force (@Luftforsvaret) February 22, 2021
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The presence of US bombers is likely to increase geopolitical tensions in the region. As the US aircraft arrived at Orland Air Station, the Russian Navy guided missile cruiser Marshal Ustinov was reported close to the Norwegian border.
quoting the Barents Observe, The Aviationist states that "No Russian warship has been tracked so close to Norway's maritime border in the Varanger Fjord at any time in post-Soviet history."
Last year the US Air Force conducted a series of long-distance flights and deployments in the Nordic region with its B-1B Lancers.
The flights for this year and 2020 also have the participation of Swedish Air Force with its JAS-39 Gripen fighters.
Carl-Johan Edström, head of the Swedish Air Force and director of exercises explains that “t exercises are vital to increasing our military capability; that is, exercising the guarantee of interoperability and ensuring that we have common methods and procedures.”
“We are pretty good at it now thanks to our experience from previous t exercises.” completed the military.
This week the RNoAF deployed F-35A fighters to Iceland on an air policing mission, while last week the USAF retired the first of 17 B-1B bombers.
