Sentry Staff
A United States Air Force Bomber Task Force has deployed to Australia for training exercises for the first time in two years.
Three B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, Airmen and support equipment from the 509th Bomb Wing (BW) and 131st BW, Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri landed at Royal Australian Air Force Base Amberly in August 2024 for maneuvers in the Indo-Pacific region.
Two KC-135R tankers from the Illinois National Guard accompanied the bombers.
The deployment is in support of the Pacific Air Forces’ training efforts with Allies and Partners and joint forces to demonstrate interoperability and bolster security in the region. During deployments, U.S. strategic bombers operate in the Indo-Pacific from a range of overseas. U.S. Strategic Command routinely conducts bomber operations across the globe to underscore its commitment to collective defense and to integrate with operations and activities of other combatant commands.
Exercises included two of the B-2s conducting operations escorted by American F-22s, two Royal Australian Air Force F-35As, two EA-18G Growlers and one E-7A Wedgetail throughout the airspace of southeastern Australia. During the flight, Australian KC-30A tankers joined to refuel the bombers and the Growlers mid-air.
The mission also included a “hot pit” refueling of a B-2 at Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, nearly 8,700 kilometers from Amberly. Hot pitting is the act of having an aircraft land, refuel and take off without shutting its engines down.
“If we lose a tanker or don’t get a tanker for aerial refueling, a hot pit enables us to move our jet from location to location, refuel and complete the mission,” said Col. Matthew Howard, 131st Bomb Wing Deputy Commander, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine.
The operation was completed by U.S. Air Force Airmen assigned to the 110th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron (EBS).
During the hot pit, pilots performed an engine-running crew change while the crew chief and ground team connected the bomber to a refueling tank, refueled the aircraft and then got it airborne again. While hot pit refueling is not foreign to members of the 110th EBS, it is a process that has been refined within the wing.
“In the past, our hot pit crews have been a large group, with a big footprint, going out and setting up,” Howard said. “With more iterations of this process, we’ve been making it leaner … where we can land a jet with the minimum number of people, turn the jet, and then get it airborne.”
Conducting hot pit events in locations around the globe enables aircrew and support Airmen to maintain a high state of readiness and proficiency, according to a U.S. Strategic Command news release.
Bomber missions demonstrate joint force lethality and deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific by showcasing the U.S. Air Force’s ability to operate anywhere in the world at any time.
In addition to joint and combined exercises, the Air Force wants to expand its international exchange program for enlisted Airmen with Allies and Partners in the Indo-Pacific. The U.S. and Australia have “been working already on a plan inside the Royal Australian Air Force to find opportunities for us to not only learn from each other, but to become interchangeable,” U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. David Flosi told Defense News. “We’re looking to expand that rapidly.”