USAF B-52 Bombers Deploy to Europe | RAF Fairford
- Aviation Highlights
After a B-1 deployment only a few months ago, RAF Fairford has once again become the temporary home for some US Air Force bombers. This time however, they are B-52s! The four aircraft arrived at RAF Fairford in the afternoon of the 10th February 2022, after a week or two of speculation. They flew non-stop from their home base (Minot AFB) in North Dakota, with the help of a few KC-135 and KC-46 tanker aircraft. Once in UK airspace, the arrivals were somewhat sporadic. The first one, callsign HATE14, headed straight into Fairford – it is believed it didn’t recieve any additional fuel from the tankers over the Atlantic. Two of the other ’52s (HATE11 & 13) were circling for hours over Scotland alongside RAF Eurofighter Typhoons and a Hawk T1 for a photoshoot. Meanwhile, HATE12 headed to the coasts of Norfolk and Lincolnshire to use the weapon ranges! Also worth noting that it’s believed that this Bomber Task Force (BTF) was planned some time ago, long before things heated up in Eastern Europe.
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