A B-52 bomber The US Air Force conducts long training and deterrence missions in northern and eastern Europe. Taking off from Morón air base in southern Spain, the strategic aircraft refueled in the air east of England, then continued across the North Sea, Denmark and Germany. After entering Baltic airspace, the aircraft was escorted by NATO fighters, while Atlantic Alliance AWACS and British Combined Rivet RC-135Ws operated in the same area. The B-52 orbited for a long time between Estonia and Latvia, flying less than 50 kilometers from the Russian border and several tens of kilometers from St. Petersburg. Petersburg, before heading back southwest.
Mission
The operation, according to analysts and military sources, is a new demonstration of NATO’s long-range projection capabilities and its constant commitment to maintaining a deterrence posture on the eastern flank. On November 8, several B-52 Stratofortresses landed at Morón for the first rotation of Bomber Task Force 2026, coming from the Barksdale base in Louisiana. During the transfer, the bombers were joined by Eurofighter Typhoons of the Spanish Air Force. In its official statement, US Air Forces in Europe specified that, although the B-52s were stationed in southwest Europe, operational activities would be centered in Northern and Eastern Europe. The training will involve the Finnish, Lithuanian and Swedish air forces, with the aim of strengthening joint readiness.
Bomber Task Force
In recent weeks, authorities in Sweden and Lithuania have accused Russia of waging hybrid warfare, including sabotage and airspace violations below the threshold of open conflict. This week NATO also launched anti-submarine maneuvers in the Baltic Sea, near Sweden. The current deployment marks the Bomber Task Force’s second rotation of 2025 at Morón: in May, B-52s from the Minot base in North Dakota deployed temporarily to the same installation. In March 2024, the base hosted B-1B Lancers. In recent years, the US Air Force has diversified its base of operations in Europe. In addition to historic RAF Fairford in the UK, the bombers operated from Ørland (Norway), Sweden and Iceland, underscoring the flexible deployment strategy and desire to ensure a constant Atlantic Alliance presence on a wide range of fronts.
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