The U.S. Air Force in Europe confirmed on Friday that some of its gargantuan B-52 "Stratofortress" bombers had "conducted a long range integration flight through Europe connecting with Germany and Romania":
The B-52s took off from RAF Fairford and headed to Germany where they exercised alongside U.S. and German Joint Terminal Attack Controllers. This integration consisted of close air support and integration mission training objectives.
A convoy of massive U.S. bombers buzzing around several hundred miles from the Ukrainian border...make of that what you will.
That being said, the aircraft themselves—the B-52 Stratofortresses—are absolute miracles of modern military engineering.
Consider, from the U.S. Air Force:
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).
Here, a brief tour of a Stratofortress during takeoff, including a view of some of its control consoles:
Here's some unbelievable footage of one of these suckers in action:
The hero shot:
If you've half an hour to kill, here's a good look at this aircraft and some of the history behind it on the PBS series "Behind the Wings:"
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