This last of the US Air Force's B-52 bombers have left RAF Fairford after months of being stationed at the Gloucestershire airbase. On Tuesday, the final "Stratofortress" long-range strategic bombers climbed into West Country's airspace and made their way back to the United States.
The B-52s, commonly called "buffs" by aviation enthusiasts, were deployed in Europe as part of the US' regular Bomber Task Force - which aims to boost cooperation and training between America and its allies. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a greater number of "buffs" and U2 spy planes could be seen operating out of RAF Fairford on flight scanners, as NATO tests its combat readiness, reports Gloucestershire Live.
Shortly before their departure, the B-52s stationed at Fairford celebrated the 70th anniversary of the strategic bomber's first flight, April 15. However, these are not ancient relics of war, having been updated and retrofitted in the seven decades since - with the US recently announcing that they had managed to fire cutting-edge hypersonic missiles from a "buff".
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These missiles are capable of hitting a blistering 3836mph, which is more than double the top speed of a Typhoon fighter jet. This adaptability is why these bombers, which have deployed in combat zones from Vietnam to Iraq, still have another expected 20 years of service left in them - making them the longest-serving military aircraft in the world.
The RAF has recently revealed that the buffs were taking part in a huge arctic NATO exercise called COLD RESPONSE. This exercise involved cooperation between the B-52s and the UK's Royal Navy aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales - as well as 30,000 related staff from 27 cooperating nations.
Lt Col Bryson Ayers, 69th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron Commander said of his UK deployment: "The Bomber Task Force is in RAF Fairford integrating with our partners and allies, working on our interoperability and how to fight together.
"The RAF, the UK in general, has been one of our closes allies for the last 100 years. We're there to integrate with them, to fight with them, to learn their capabilities and for them to learn ours.
"I really love your Winston Churchill quote 'the only thing that's worse than fighting with your allies, is fighting without them.' Different countries, different nations, different cultures have different ways of saying the same thing, which can sometimes cause a bit of friction.
"So if we work together right now and work out some of those kinks, then we're more capable later. Then our differences make us stronger and bring in different perspectives as to how to attack a problem.
"I love the B-52, I've been in it my whole career, my dad was a B-52 Weapons Systems Officer like me. We do very well at nuclear deterrent, standard-off employment, direct-attack employment, close-air support, we're great at them all. It's an incredible aircraft to employ and fly."
