In a new deployment of the Bomber Task Force Europe 25-4B mission, three U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers, belonging to the 345th Expeditionary Squadron and deployed from Dyess AFB (Texas), landed on August 9 at Ørland Air Base, Norway, where they trained with local Air Force F-35 fighters. This operation, the fifth in the BTF series in 2025, aimed to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to maintaining a forward, ready, and capable presence in the Arctic–Europe–Baltic triangle.
During the deployment, the B-1Bs operated in formation with Royal Norwegian Air Force F-35A Lightning II fighters, strengthening tactical interoperability between U.S. and Norwegian teams. This bilateral activity also highlighted the importance of Norway’s Ørland base as a strategic point for NATO allies in Scandinavia, and above all, due to its proximity to the Arctic. “We can defend other aircraft and also launch weapons from the ground. The B-1, on the other hand, is more specific and has long-range, high-speed capabilities. We look forward to being present with the F-35 to help fulfill the B-1’s role, protecting it, and also relying on its support in the air-to-surface phase of warfare training,” said Major Morgan of the Royal Norwegian Air Force, acting commander of the 332nd Squadron.
In particular, the training mission was conducted under advanced Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2AD) threat conditions, reinforcing the ability of the participating units to operate in saturated and hostile environments. These maneuvers focused on the “find, fix, track, and target” cycle, aiming to refine speed and accuracy in the real-time identification and neutralization of targets.
The exercise concluded without incident yesterday, as officially confirmed by NATO in its final statement on the operation. In this regard, it was emphasized that the exercise was an opportunity for allied air forces to test their integration under pressure, combining rapid response capability with advanced planning.
Additionally, the group of B-1B Lancers was escorted to Norway by Spanish Air Force EF-18M Hornet fighters over the North Atlantic, which had taken off from Iceland’s Keflavik Air Base as part of NATO’s air policing mission.
Lastly, it is worth noting that this BTF-Europe is one of 48 bomber deployments the U.S. Air Force has carried out in the last 18 months, 33 of which occurred in 2024, distributed across theaters such as Europe, the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America, reflecting an unprecedented demand for strategic bombing capability.
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