Four US Air Force (USAF) B-2A Spirit stealth bombers from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, have been operating out of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Amberley, Queensland, for the past few weeks to support a Pacific Air Forces Bomber Task Force (BTF) deployment.
An initial two arrived at Amberley on July 10. They were followed on July 12 by a further two, all four, assigned to the 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, having been deployed as part of a rotational BTF, supporting the Enhanced Cooperation Initiative under the Force Posture Agreement signed more than a decade ago between the United States and Australia.
Airmen were to employ the B-2As to conduct training missions and strategic deterrence missions with allies, partners and joint forces in support of maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific. Although one of the four departed on July 24, a fifth aircraft arrived on July 28 to bring the deployment back up to full strength.
The last time the B-2As deployed to the INDOPACOM area of responsibility as part of a BTF was in August 2020.This deployment is in line with the National Defense Strategy’s objectives of strategic predictability and operational unpredictability. The BTF enables different types of strategic bombers to operate forward in the Indo-Pacific region from a broad array of overseas and Continental US locations with greater operational resilience.
