BERLIN, November 17. /TASS/. B-52 strategic bombers are performing training flights in northern German airspace, the Kieler Nachrichten newspaper reported.
According to the report, the US airplanes have been flying over Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern almost daily since the middle of last week. The maneuvers are a part of the Bomber Task Force Europe 26-1 military exercise, which the US has been conducting from its base in Spain’s Mor·n de la Frontera. Information on what weapons these aircrafts carry has been classified.
In turn, Bild wrote citing a US army spokesperson that the goal of the exercise is to increase flexibility and coordination between the allies. Other countries taking part in the exercise are Lithuania, Sweden and Finland.
The first B-52 mission with aerial refueling lasted around eight hours, during which the plane reportedly reached Finland’s border with Russia.
Bild draws a connection between the B-52 flights and the movement of the Russian Baltic Fleet’s Neustrashimy frigate and the Alexander Shabalin large landing ship in international waters off Germany’s Fehmarn Island.