Allied Air Command:Combined Air Operations for the Eastern Flank

On 9 March 2023,Allied Air Command led a dynamic,long-range operation above Romania.The Combined Air Operations Centre at Torrejon,Spain coordinated Allied bomber and fighter aircraft,NATO said.Romania is one of the Allies closest to the Ukraine War,being on NATO's Eastern Flank.During the drill,Italian Eurofighter Typhoons and US Air Force Boeing F-15E Strike Eagles supported by USAF B-52H strategic bombers carried out a simulated combined air offensive against adversary Air Defence systems simulated by Romanian F-16 Fighting Falcons,Spanish F/A-18 Hornets and the French Mamba Surface-Based Air and Missile Defence system (SBAMD) deployed in Romania. The participants were pitted against an intricate scenario based on near-peer threats,thus demonstrating Alliance readiness and capability for air control.The Allied units practised techniques,tactics and procedures (TTPs) designed to defeat a complex set of potential real-world challenges in a congested air domain,applying NATO standards against a full spectrum of threats.The operation was part of a programme of regular and repeated Vigilance Activities aimed at shielding NATO's Eastern Flank and reassuring Allies in the region.* The Boeing B-52Hs are currently on rotational deployment to Moron Air Base (pronounced Mor-OWN),Spain.Moron AB provides expeditionary combat support as an expandable Forward Operating Base to support transient/bed-down of aircraft operations;to provide staging of aircraft and personnel in support of US and NATO plans,exercises and contingency operations;and to provide Base Operating Support to tenant units. The B-52Hs at Moron are out of the 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron,Minot Air Force Base,North Dakota.Such Bomber Task Force missions familiarise air crews with air bases and operations in different geographic combatant command Areas of Responsibility,validating our always-ready global strike capability.* Boeing (BA)