B-1B “Lancer” bombers belonging to the 7th Bomb Wing from Dyess Air Force Base, in Texas, are bombing ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria.
An unspecified number of B-1B bombers of the 7th Bomb Wing from Dyess AFB is currently operating from Al Udeid airbase, in Qatar. If you type the Qatari airbase name in Google Earth, you can spot at least 5 “Lancers” parked on the main apron, along with KC-135 tankers.
Image credit: Google Earth
Originally the “Bones” (as the plane are nicknamed by their pilots), supported by 300 airmen, were deployed to the region to support Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan as part of a standard 6-month rotation to the main U.S. Air Force base in the Persian Gulf.
Then, they were destined to the current air campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
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More or less at the same time when their presence in the opening waves of air strikes in Syria was confirmed by officials at the Pentagon, a composite photo made with video stills, of a B-1B circling over Fallujah, 69 kilometers to the west of Baghdad, on Sept. 24, was posted on Arab forum: a reminder that there’s a war going on in Iraq too and that air strikes on ISIS not only involve F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets and F-15E aircraft, but also supersonic variable-sweep wing, jet-powered strategic bombers too.
Strategic bombers that can perform complex combined operations with escorting F-22, drop stealthy air-launched cruise missiles, perform maritime attacks and old-fashioned carpet bombings.
Top Image: Defense-arab.com.
H/T Tom Cooper at ACIG.info for finding the image.
