B-52s Wrap Up Spain Rotation with Training in Middle East, Africa

Three B-52 Stratofortresses departed Spain on Nov. 24 after a deployment that included training missions over the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

Bomber crews from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., first arrived at Morón Air Base, Spain on Nov. 8 for the Air Force’s first Bomber Task Force rotation in Europe of fiscal 2026. The B-52s with the 96th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron flew with NATO allies over Europe—a regular feature of Bomber Task Forces—but also spent time flying over southwest Asia and northwest Africa.

In the Middle East, the B-52s participated in a multinational joint exercise in Qatar dubbed Exercise Ferocious Falcon 6, according to an Air Force release.   

Operating with USAF F-16 Fighting Falcons and KC-135 Stratotankers, bomber crews flew missions during the Nov. 16-20 exercise that involved more than 1,300 troops from the U.S., Qatar, Italy, United Kingdom, Turkey and France, according to an Air Force Central statement.

“This exercise is as much about building relationships as it is about tactics and operations,” Air Force Central spokesperson Maj. Katrina J. Cheesman said in the statement. “By exercising our shared defense capabilities, the United States and its regional partners seek to sustain trust, stabilize the Middle East, and reinforce the principles of peace and cooperation fundamental to rules-based international order.”

The bombers conducted a flyover for the Dubai Airshow before leaving the Middle East.

Working with Air Force Joint Terminal Attack Controllers deployed from Vicenza, Italy, one bomber crew also trained over Atar, Mauritania in west Africa on Nov. 19. JTACs conducted ground-to-air training with Mauritanian Air Force personnel, coordinating with B-52s flying overhead, according to the release.

A large portion of the deployment, however, was focused on training in Europe, with allied air forces from Finland, Lithuania and Sweden to demonstrate a unified deterrent along Europe’s eastern flank and the High North. Bomber crews trained to locate and strike threats “while operating under conditions shaped by anti-access and area denial threats,” according to the release.

The training was particularly important given that Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine continues to concern allies in the region. In late October, officials from Sweden and Lithuania accused Russia of engaging in “hybrid” or “gray zone” warfare—actions such as airspace violations that fall below the threshold of open conflict and test the limits of how nations might respond.

Throughout the deployment, B-52 aircraft crews trained with a NATO-operated E-3 Airborne Early Warning and Control System aircraft.

“We are strengthening partnerships in Africa and the Middle East and maintaining freedom of maneuver with allied integration in U.S. European Command,” Maj. Adam Carr, 96th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron director of operations, said in the release.

This is the second time in 2025 that B-52s have been stationed at Morón for a Bomber Task Force. In May, BUFFs from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., deployed there. B-1B Lancers also deployed there in March 2024.