Two U.S. Air Force B-52 strategic bombers from Minot Air Force Base touched down in the UK on Feb. 11, 2025 to kick off the Bomber Task Force 25-2 deployment.
Created in 2018, the Bomber Task Force (BTF) series of deployments intended to fulfil the U.S. Department of Defense’s Dynamic Force Employment strategy, and demonstrate Air Force Global Strike Command’s (AFGSC) ability to rapidly deploy forces to strategic locations across the globe.
RAF Fairford, a U.S. Air Force operated station in Gloucestershire, UK, has been a common location for BTF deployments. As a designated forward operating location for USAF strategic forces, Fairford is equipped for long term deployments of B-52 Stratofortress, B-1B Lancer, and B-2A Spirit bombers. The most recent such BTF mission at RAF Fairford saw four B-52s deploy to the base from November to December 2024.
A similar number of B-52s are likely to take part in BTF 25-2, with further aircraft joining the initial two in the coming days. The first two airframes are 60-0007, which arrived using the callsign SLIDE 11, and 60-0023, using callsign SLIDE 22. Prior to their arrival, the two aircraft conducted a sortie over Scandinavia. They were joined by Finnish F/A-18C Hornets, Swedish Gripens, French Rafales, and a French Airbus A330 MRTT refueling aircraft.
On 11 February, the Finnish Air Force trained together with 🇺🇸 B-52 bomber aircraft, 🇸🇪 Gripens and 🇫🇷 Rafale fighters in Swedish airspace. The training was supported by a 🇫🇷 MRTT aircraft. Training together demonstrates high level of interoperability among allies. #ilmavoimat pic.twitter.com/AHWlmXExKm
— Ilmavoimat (@FinnishAirForce) February 12, 2025
Aviation enthusiasts tracked the two bombers as they departed the U.S. accompanied by refuelling tankers. Their arrival has been highly anticipated following weeks of rumors. These rumors were effectively confirmed in the preceding week with the arrival of several civilian charter aircraft to RAF Fairford.
B-52H #SLIDE11 working Shanwick Radio HF 8879, en route to RAF Fairford from Minot AFB. #SLIDE12 is 20 minutes in trail. pic.twitter.com/YZRYY6p4pW
— EISNspotter 🇮🇪 (@EISNspotter) February 11, 2025
Passenger configured Atlas Air Boeing 767 N662GT arrived first, followed by two Kalitta Air Boeing 747 cargo aircraft, N742CK and N742CK, carrying supplies and ground equipment required for the deployment.
Based on previous deployments, during the BTF the bombers will conduct sorties which will likely take them deep into Europe, and potentially into the Middle East and Africa. During these sorties, the aircraft will operate alongside NATO and allied forces.
Senior spokesperson for the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) Colonel David Herndon stated: “Training with NATO Allies strengthens our ability to operate as one team. These missions reinforce our partnerships and prepare us to deliver decisive capabilities whenever and wherever they’re needed.”
Bigger, Faster, More ⚡☄️#BomberTaskForce 25-2 enhances combat readiness amongst participating NATO Allies and partner nations, ensuring their ability to rapidly respond to emerging threats.
Stay tuned for more 👀#WeAreNATO | #Agility | #AllianceResilience | #BTF pic.twitter.com/JrjeTgvX9x
— SHAPE – NATO Allied Command Operations (@SHAPE_NATO) February 10, 2025
Munitions to support the deployment have also been prepared at RAF Fairford. The 420th Munitions Squadron at RAF Welford maintains one of the USAF’s largest weapon stockpiles in Europe, conveniently located around 30 miles fromm Fairford.
New Administration and Changing Policies
Although this is the first BTF mission to commence following the change in U.S. Government administration, the exercise has likely been long planned, owing to the complexity of arranging and preparing for such an undertaking. It does, however, coincide with a visit to Europe by Pete Hegseth, the new U.S. Secretary of Defense.
Hegseth stated his belief that the U.S. and Europe have an “imbalanced relationship” in terms of military funding and that NATO members must increase their budgets to guarantee U.S. support. His comments suggest the new administration intends a Pacific tilt, focusing on China as a threat and imploring Europe to provide for its own security needs. Despite these statements, reinforcements to Europe such as BTF 25-2 have continued for now.
While the main threat that concerns many European nations is Russia and its invasion of Ukraine, U.S. forces in Europe are also positioned well to support and backfill operations in the Middle East and Africa. This means, regardless of positioning by government officials, Europe is still one of the U.S. military’s most important areas of operation and not one that is easily sacrificed.
In terms of a Pacific tilt, BTF 25-1 recently saw B-1B Lancers deploy to Andersen AFB, Guam. Regular BTF deployments have replaced a long-term bomber presence at the strategic island outpost. Confusingly, U.S. Department of Defense communications have referred to both this deployment as well as the previous RAF Fairford BTF detachment under the name BTF 25-1.
