B-52 Stratofortress bombers began arriving Tuesday at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, temporarily providing the Pentagon with a rarity as tensions with North Korea percolate: the presence of three kinds of bombers in the Pacific.
The six B-52s and 300 airmen from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana will take over the U.S. military’s “continuous bomber presence” mission in the Pacific from a unit of B-1B Lancer bombers at the end of the month, Air Force officials said in a news release.
The B-52s and B-1s will be joined in Guam by three B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, which deployed last week from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. – Washington Post
The B-2 Spirit is the only US bomber equipped to carry nuclear bombs. The B-52’s can carry nuclear cruise missiles and due to the START Treaty with Russia the B-1’s are no longer nuclear capable.
The US does have nuclear weapons that can be carried by aircraft such as the F/A-18 Hornet and the new F-35 was designed with nuclear capability in mind.
Featured image of a B-52 Stratofortress taking off from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam by U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Eric Petosky
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