Russia has decried that mission, as well as other American and NATO exercises around its borders in recent months, as provocative.
U.S. Air Force says that the B-1B Bones that flew to and from the Black Sea region last week practiced procedures for employing the AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile, or LRASM, during that training mission. The service has focused heavily on the future employment of these bombers against maritime threats as they enter the twilight of their career, but with a heavy emphasis on operations during a potential crisis in the Pacific. This flight shows that there is interest in how those capabilities might support contingencies in Europe, and in the Black Sea where they could present a particularly serious challenge to the Russian Navy, and the Kremlin is taking notice.
The two B-1Bs from the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota flew the long-range Bomber Task Force Mission on May 29, 2020, and worked with a variety of aircraft from NATO allies and other European partners, which you can read more in The War Zone's initial reporting on this training flight. This included flying with Ukrainian Su-27 Flanker and MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets and taking on fuel from a Turkish KC-135R tanker, a first for the Air Force's Bone fleet in both cases. U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) revealed the anti-ship component of the mission on June 1, 2020, though it's not clear if either of the aircraft were actually carrying any LRASMs.
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