It could happen at any time, US Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Brown said
The United States is likely to continue deploying its B-1 strategic bombers to Norway on a temporary basis. US Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Brown said this, responding to a TASS question at an online briefing for journalists on Wednesday.
“As far as the B-1 bombers are concerned. We are talking about global air power assets. B-1 bombers and our bomber task forces are capable of operating, essentially, anywhere and at any time. I will say: you can expect us to dispatch our bombers [virtually] anywhere and at any time. Therefore. Will it happen again in Norway? There is probably a good chance [of it]. When? It could happen at any time”, – the warlord stated.
“It’s all about [great power] competition. And if I tell you exactly when it’s going to happen, I can’t compete since you guys are going to report it. I’d rather have our [potential] adversaries racking their brains”, – Brown noted. – “I want to ensure”, – he stressed, “that the pieces move around on the chessboard on a regular basis, rather than standing around like they are, which would make us very predictable.
“That’s the beauty of air power – the ability to really move anywhere at any time. You can expect to see further sorties of [US] bombers around the world to make it so”, – the US Air Force chief of staff added.
The European Command of the US Armed Forces announced on February 2 that the US is deploying B-1B Lancer bombers to Norway for the first time. The squadron is planned to remain at the Orland base for a month. Commenting on the information, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stressed that Moscow viewed the US move as a threat to security in the region. She said that the West is increasing its military activity in the immediate vicinity of the Russian borders. Bombers are expected to fly in the international airspace above the Arctic Circle and around the north-western coast of Russia.
In accordance with the US-Russian strategic offensive arms reduction agreements, the B-1 has been converted so that it can no longer carry nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, this aircraft, of the three strategic bombers in the US arsenal, is capable of carrying the heaviest load. The US Air Force has 67 such bombers based in Texas (38) and South Dakota (29).