The waters in the Black Sea have been experiencing their hottest days since the end of the Cold War. Sea and air movement of NATO affiliates is very high in the region.
Two B-1B Lancer affiliated to the U.S. Air Force's 28th Bomber Wing performed a long-range Bomber Task Force mission. The platforms departing from Ellsworth Air Force Base stationed in South Dakota headed over the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea after they crossed the Atlantic Ocean. During the round trip; bombers conducted joint mission training with elements from Polish, Romania, Hellenic, Turkish and Ukraine Air Force. B-1Bs first arrived in the Black Sea after the refuelling from KC-135R of the 100th Airlift Wing based in RAF Mildenhall via NATO European Airspace. The platforms, which were accompanied by the Hellenic Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft, which patrolling on Skopje, which is the capital of Nort Macedonia, the latest member of NATO headed to the Black Sea. Aircraft refuelled with the KC-135R Stratotanker of the Turkish Air Force and operates under the 101st Fleet (Call Code: Asena) affiliated to the 10th Tanker Base Command of Incirlik. The Lancers also carried out a series of training activities on the Black Sea with the Su-27 (NATO Code: Flanker) and MiG-29 (NATO Code: Fulcrum) of the Ukrainian Air Force.
The B-1Bs completed the task by aerial refuelling without landing until the Ellsworth Air Force Base. During the mission, the strategic bombers in question performed trainings for the first time with the Swedish JAS-39s, the Ukraine Su-27 and MiG-29, as well as the Turkish Air Force's KC-135R Stratotankers.
The Ministry of National Defence also announced the activity from its official Twitter account with “Within the scope of military cooperation between allied countries, two B-1 USA aircrafts flying over the Black Sea were given in-flight refuelling support with our tanker aircraft” description.
According to information in open sources, the B-1B Lancer strategic bomber aircraft was intercepted by the Russian Aerospace Forces Su-27 and Su-30 aircraft twice over the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea.
