A B-2 Spirit stealth bomber deployed to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, flew its first mission earlier today.
Three B-2 Spirit bombers and more than 200 Airmen, belonging to 509th Bomb Wing from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, deployed to Hawaii in support of U.S. Strategic Command’s (USSTRATCOM) Bomber Task Force (BTF) mission, on Jan. 10, 2019.
Although bombers regularly rotate through the Indo-Pacific region “to integrate capabilities with key regional partners and maintain a high state of aircrew proficiency”, utilizing Andersen AFB in Guam, this is the second time the Spirit stealth bombers have deployed to Hawaii supporting the BTF mission in a few months: in August 2018, during the B-2’s first deployment to JBPH-H, the stealth bombers flew multiple local and long-duration sorties, conducted hot pit refueling at Wake Island and integrated with the local-based Hawaii Air National Guard 199th Fighter Squadron’s F-22 Raptor 5th generation aircraft.
On Jan. 14, one of the three B-2s deployed to Hickam flew its first mission from Hawaii. The amazing shots of the aircraft taxiing and taking off from JBPH-H can be seen in this article.
“Deploying to Hawaii enables us to showcase to a large American and international audience that the B-2 is on watch 24 hours a day, seven days a week ready to protect our country and its allies,” Lt. Col. Joshua Dorr, 393rd Bomb Squadron director of operation, said in a recent release.
“This training is crucial to maintaining our regional interoperability; It affords us the opportunity to work with our allies in joint exercises and validates our always-ready global strike capability.”
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The deployment of the B-2 to Hickam is just another chapter in the America’s so-called “extended deterrence operations” in the Indo-Asia-Pacific theater, where China is continuing its colonization of the disputed islands in the East and South China Seas.
