WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Three US Air Force strategic power projection bombers — the B-52, B-1 and B-2 — participated in their first integrated operation in the South China Sea, the US Pacific Command (PACOM) said in a statement on Wednesday.
"[T]his was the first time all three bombers flew a formation pass over Andersen Air Force Base, dispersed and then simultaneously conducted operations in the South China Sea and Northeast Asia," PACOM stated.
On August 15, several B-1 bombers and more than 300 US Air Force personnel arrived at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam to replace a B-52 squadron.
The mission is intended to demonstrate the US commitment to global security and ability to launch a credible strategic defense force, commander Brig. Gen. Douglas Cox explained.
Approximately 360,000 US military personnel are assigned to PACOM’s area of responsibility, which the command says includes about half the globe and 50 percent of the world’s population, stretching from India to California and Antarctica to the North Pole.
