Worldwide movements by USAF fighters and bombers
On 10 February 2022, the USAF sent eight 493rd Fighter Squadron Grim Reapers F-15C/D Eagle fighter jets to Poland to bolster NATO defences amid ongoing fears of a new Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Eagles arrived at Łask Air Base (Poland) to take part in a mission to build up NATO’s collective defence posture, as well as support the permanent Baltic Air Policing (BAP) mission in the region. Strikingly, upon arrival all Eagles carried live missiles.
Since 4 January 2022, SP coded F-16Cs from Spangdahlem's 480th Fighter Squadron Warhawks are present at Łask to carry out the above mentioned tasks.
Although no duration has been given, it is expected that the RAF Lakenheath (UK) based 493rd FS will perform its last deployment.
While being replaced by the F-35A Lightning II, the, already uncoded, Eagles are slated to return to the Continental United States (CONUS) in due time. The following F-15C/Ds are present in Poland:
As for RAF Lakenheath; the air base has been hosting a dozen 4th Fighter Wing Seymour Johnson AFB (NC) F-15E Strike Eagles since November 2021. On multiple occasions, the SJ Strike Eagles, while flying out of Lakenheath, carried out USAF's Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concept in and over Eastern Europe.
The above F-15 deployment to Poland coincided with the arrival of four B-52H Stratofortress bombers at RAF Fairford (UK) on 10 February. The B-52Hs, support equipment, and personnel arrived from the 5th Bomb Wing based at Minot AFB (ND) and will carry out long-planned Bomber Task Force (BTF) missions. En route to Fairford, the Stratofortresses integrated with British Typhoon aircraft and Portuguese F-16s currently assigned to NATO’s Icelandic Air Policing mission.
It is expected that in the coming days the bombers will conduct long-range, long duration strategic BTF missions throughout Europe and the Baltic region. There is the possibility that more Stratofortresses will make the move to Europe. The following MT coded B-52Hs, mainly from Minot's 69th Bomb Squadron, are now at Fairford:
On 10 February 2022, a dozen 1st Fighter Wing, Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptors were seen transiting Morón Air Base (Spain) on their way to the Middle East. It is expected that the Raptors will be tasked with helping the United Arab Emirates's respond to recent drone and missile strikes by Iranian-backed Yemeni Houthi rebels. The recent volley of missile and drone attacks on the UAE capital Abu Dhabi shook the Gulf Region.
The USAF Raptors haven’t been deployed to the UAE for several years now. In 2019, the USAF pulled the F-22As back from the Gulf Region to renovate and reassess how it would base and use its Raptor fleet. Prior to that, F-22As were based at Al Dhafra (UAE) in support of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR). The following Langley AFB (VA) based, 27th Fighter Squadron/1st Fighter Wing FF coded F-22As were seen transiting Morón:
From 2 February to 18 February 2022, USAF Alaskan based F-16Cs and F-35As are participating in the exercise Cope North 22. This exercise is the US Pacific Air Forces’ largest multilateral exercise and includes more than 2,500 US Airmen, Marines, and Sailors working alongside 1,000 combined Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) counterparts.
Being both subordinate units of the 354th Fighter Wing, the 18th Aggressor Squadron with F-16Cs and the 356th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron with F-35As are now operating out of Andersen AFB (Guam). The following AK coded Eielson AFB (AK) based F-35As have been sighted at Andersen:
Credit photos: RAF Photographer, USAF and Andy Kenyon (On Flickr)