US Air Force B-52s fly marathon mission to Europe

Synopsis

US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers flew a marathon mission on 10 November 2021, taking off from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to strike simulated targets in the North Sea region.
The bombers joined fighter escorts from the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force, along with US Air Force fighters and B-1B Lancer bombers assigned to Bomber Task Force Europe. The Task Force is a regular, rotational deployment of strategic bombers to Europe, which gives US air crews a chance to familiarise themselves with Allied airspace, infrastructure, tactics and procedures. Currently, B-1B bombers from the Texas-based 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron are deployed to RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom.
Footage includes shots of B-52s, B-1Bs and an interview with Lieutenant Colonel Nathan “Griz” Jenkins, B-1B pilot and detachment commander.
Transcript

(00:00) VARIOUS SHOTS – US AIR FORCE B-52 STRATOFORTRESS STRATEGIC BOMBER APPROACHING KC-135 STRATOTANKER REFUELLING AIRCRAFT
(00:10) VARIOUS SHOTS – BOOM OPERATOR WORKING CONTROLS TO REFUEL AIRCRAFT
(00:23) VARIOUS SHOTS – B-52 BEING REFUELLED
(00:29) CLOSE UP – BOOM OPERATOR
(00:32) WIDE SHOTS – B-52 FALLING BACK AFTER REFUELLING
(00:48) VARIOUS SHOT – KC-135 COCKPIT
(00:55) TIME LAPSE: KC-135 TAKE-OFF AS SEEN FROM COCKPIT
(01:21) VARIOUS SHOTS – B-1B LANCER BOMBERS STATIONED AT UK ROYAL AIR FORCE FAIRFORD AS PART OF BOMBER TASK FORCE EUROPE
(01:51) VARIOUS SHOTS – B-1B LANCERS ARRIVING AT RAF FAIRFORD IN OCTOBER 2021
(02:08) VARIOUS SHOTS – B-1B LANCERS TAKE OFF FROM RAF FAIRFORD ON A NIGHT MISSION
(02:25) SOUNDBITE (English) – LIEUTENANT COLONEL NATHAN “GRIZ” JENKINS, COMMANDER, BOMBER TASK FORCE EUROPE DETACHMENT
“Bomber Task Force rotations happen a few times a year to forward locations such as Guam and/or Fairford. Also, recently, the 9th Bomb Squadron went to Norway last spring. So we go out a couple times a year, and really we’re here to integrate with our local partners and our Allies to try and build relationships, get better at working together and integrating and communicating with them, and then obviously demonstrating our readiness and meeting the combatant commander’s objectives that he has for the theatre.”
(02:54) SOUNDBITE (English) – LIEUTENANT COLONEL NATHAN “GRIZ” JENKINS, COMMANDER, BOMBER TASK FORCE EUROPE DETACHMENT
“The B-1 and the B-52 provide a very strategic deterrence role for the United States military, for the United States Air Force. Specifically, the B-1 is more focused towards conventional, long-range strategic deterrence portion, considering we’re a non-nuclear platform, and really trying to integrate with our local partners and Allies from a conventional deterrence perspective is what we provide for the B-1.”
(03:17) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) LIEUTENANT COLONEL NATHAN “GRIZ” JENKINS, COMMANDER, BOMBER TASK FORCE EUROPE DETACHMENT
“So for this rotation we started with – our first mission out was to fly to Lithuania and integrate with the Lithuanian Special Forces JTACs [Joint Terminal Attack Controllers], then from there we returned to Germany where we did a hot-pit refuelling at Spangdahlem Air Force Base. We used a VIPER refuelling kit, which is a new capability the Air Force has to minimise the logistical footprint we need. And then we landed back here. From there, we’ve also flown to the Black Sea and integrated with Turkish tankers, also with United Sates Navy vessels that are in the Black Sea. We’ve done some conventional support to [simulated] nuclear operations off the Adriatic coast in Italy. And of note, recently, last week, we had 10 Norwegian LNOs [Liaison Officers] here. We did two different integration roles with F-35s, F-16s, Norwegian SOF [Special Operations Forces] and the Norwegian Navy.”
(04:02) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) LIEUTENANT COLONEL NATHAN “GRIZ” JENKINS, COMMANDER, BOMBER TASK FORCE EUROPE DETACHMENT
“So for the 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, really what it does for us is it allows us to forward-project to a new location, fly from a different spot and do different things we don’t normally do, and really gives us an opportunity to build relationships and work with those partners and Allies in the region that I can’t do from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.”