Two nuclear bombers have taken off from the West Country today (April 11) both with outbound journeys towards France.
The first B52 Boeing B-52H Stratofortress took off from the RAF base in Fairford, Gloucestershire, shortly after 8am on Monday heading towards the south of France just below Bordeaux to aviation website adsbexchange.com. A second aircraft of the same model departed from the same location later the same day just before 12pm flying slightly further south towards Marseille.
There have been a number of US military aircrafts reported to have departed from the same area in the West Country over the past few weeks. On Thursday, another US nuclear bomber took off from the Fairford base heading towards Denmark.
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The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. It is capable of carrying up to 32,000 kg of weapons and has a typical combat range of around 8,800 miles without aerial refuelling.
They were used extensively during the Vietnam War and have seen more recent service in the Gulf Wars and last year during the aerial bombardment of Syria. The jets have been used for heavy bombing missions but also are capable of carrying nuclear payloads. They have been coming in and out of the Oxfordshire base, helping refuel Typhoon jets over eastern Europe as the Ukraine crisis continues.
Since the conflict started in Ukraine, there have been numerous sightings of military jets passing over Bristol.
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