Four U.S. Air Force B-1 bombers and about 200 members of Dyess Air Force in Texas are deployed to Orland Air Force Base in Norway and begin missions in the Arctic Circle and in international airspace outside northwestern Russia within the next three weeks. according to several defense officials.
Until now, military missions over the Arctic have been largely staged from the United Kingdom. The move of the powers much closer to Russia means that the US can react more quickly to possible aggression in Russia, officials say.
“Operational readiness and our ability to support allies and partners and respond quickly are crucial to joint success,” he said. Jeff Harrigian, commander of the U.S. Air Force in Europe and Africa, said.
In recent months, the Pentagon has operated similar groups of B-52 bombers in the Middle East as a way to demonstrate the ability of the United States to move military assets rapidly to potentially tense regions. It takes weeks after the plan for bombers, so the Norwegian deployment has been working for some time, officials say.
The Department of Defense is deeply concerned about Russia’s military steps to block potential access to the Arctic for natural resources and maritime access, as it continues to militarize the Arctic region.
“Recent Russian investments in the Arctic have a network of offensive air assets and coastal missile systems,” warned Barbara Barrett, secretary of the air force during the Trump administration, when the air force announced how it would handle the Arctic last year. The US estimates that Russia considers maintaining its own Arctic access increasingly important, with almost 25% of its gross domestic product coming from hydrocarbons north of the Arctic Circle, Barrett said.
A Russian fighter jet flew near the USS Donald Cook, a naval destroyer, in the international waters of the Black Sea last month.
The U.S. Navy regularly sails in those waters to send the message that it will maintain access to the seas in the region.
The meeting was relatively small, but the Navy issued a statement saying: “The unnecessary proximity of the Russian Su-24’s actions is not in line with good airmanship and international norms and standards. The US Sixth Fleet is committed to the to maintain freedom of movement within international waters for all nations in the Black Sea. ‘