An American Air Force bomber plane has been spotted flying over parts of Wales. The Boeing B-52 was tracked in the skies above Welshpool, Mold and Flint among other locations on Tuesday April 19.
Departing from RAF Fairford, The United States Air Force bomber, with registration 61-0018 had previously completed flights to the south of France, Budapest and the coast of Sardinia, according to data from ADS-B Exchange, a flight tracking website.
The last available data for the B-52 was when it was traveling over the Atlantic Ocean west of Scotland at an altitude of 28,000ft.The most recent of several B-52 aircraft to fly over the UK in recent months, the bomber could be one of the four stationed at RAF Fairford as part of the Bomber Task Force mission.
Several of the planes are thought to have been stationed at the airfield in recent months. In March 2022, two of the bomber planes were spotted on a secret UK flight amid the on-going Ukraine-Russian war. It came hours after a spy plane nicknamed Dragon Lady landed at a UK RAF base after completing an unknown mission.
The fearsome American B-52's left people in Glasgow, Scotland, stunned as they looked into the air in the city last night, GlasgowLive reported.
The flight which could be spotted over Wales was available to be seen on a global flight tracking service and a person took to Twitter to share news of their appearance. They said: "The last B-52 has left RAF Fairford, heading back to America."
When the aircraft were stationed at Fairford in February, General Jeffrey Harrigian, USAFE-AFAFRICA commander, said: “With an ever-changing global security environment, it’s critical that our efforts with our allies and partners are unified.
“We’re in Europe training and collaborating together, because consistent integration is how we strengthen our collective airpower.”
A USAFE-AFAFRICA statement said that: “Bomber rotations reinforce the U.S. commitment to NATO allies and coalition partners to maintain our collective safety and sovereignty.”
Interest in U.S. Air Force activity in Europe is high after news that Boris Johnson will speak to Joe Biden about Western support for Ukraine’s Donbas region, which is currently under attack by Russian forces.
In operation since the 1950s, the long-range strategic bombers were used during the Cold War for airborne patrols near the Soviet Union to form one component of the US's nuclear deterrent.
