US Sends New Bombers to Frontline Air Base in West Pacific
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
The United States appears to have rotated its bomber fleet to the Western Pacific Ocean by deploying aircraft to Guam, a strategic hub that serves as a staging area for projecting power.
Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. Pacific Air Forces for further comment by email.
Why It Matters
The U.S. often deploys its bombers—consisting of the B-1B Lancer, B-2 Spirit, and B-52H Stratofortress—at bases in the Indo-Pacific region for Bomber Task Force (BTF) missions, including Guam, its westernmost territory in the Pacific Ocean, a Newsweek map shows.
Guam serves as the center of the Second Island Chain under the U.S. containment strategy, which seeks to keep adversaries' forces in check. The island also hosts Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps bases that sustain and maintain the American military presence in the region.
What To Know
The U.S. Air Force 2nd Bomb Wing—a B-52H Stratofortress bomber unit headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana—released a video on Saturday indicating that an unspecified number of bombers have been deployed to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.
The video shows a bomber undergoing maintenance and post-flight inspections at the air base on May 22, with its caption stating that BTF missions provide opportunities to train and work with U.S. allies and partners across different combatant command areas of operations.
The B-52H bomber is capable of carrying up to 70,000 pounds of nuclear or conventional weapons and features "worldwide precision navigation capability." It has a stated range of 8,800 miles and a top speed of 650 miles per hour, according to a U.S. Air Force fact sheet.
This marked the third BTF deployment in the Western Pacific Ocean this year, according to the map created by Newsweek. The last mission saw four B-1B bombers deploy to Misawa Air Base in Japan in mid-April, returning to the U.S. in two flights on May 9 and May 12.
A United States Air Force B-52H bomber arrives at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam after completing a Bomber Task Force mission on April 29, 2024.
A United States Air Force B-52H bomber arrives at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam after completing a Bomber Task Force mission on April 29, 2024.
Tech. Sgt. Eric Summers Jr./U.S. Air Force
The map also shows that Andersen Air Force Base hosted another BTF deployment from mid-January to early March, involving a separate group of four B-1B bombers. These bombers are not nuclear-capable and carry up to 75,000 pounds of conventional weapons.
It was not clear how long the B-52H bombers will be deployed in Guam. The U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command, responsible for America's bomber force, previously told Newsweek that it is ready to conduct BTF missions "anyplace, anytime, and for any duration required."
What People Are Saying
The U.S. Air Force 2nd Bomb Wing said: "Bomber Task Force missions demonstrate the credibility of our forces to address a global security environment that is more diverse and uncertain than any other time in recent history."
The U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command previously told Newsweek: "Our command is committed to working with U.S. allies and partners to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific; those allies and partners provide an asymmetric advantage that our adversaries can never hope to match."
The U.S. Pacific Air Forces previously told Newsweek: "The U.S. Air Force routinely deploys a variety of aircraft and units throughout the Indo-Pacific area of operations in support of geographic combatant command objectives and training."
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen when the Guam-based B-52H bombers will execute their first mission since arriving on the Western Pacific island, where tensions remain high in the South China Sea, across the Taiwan Strait, and on the Korean Peninsula.
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