USAF Spirits landed in Norway for the first time
On 29 August 2023, two USAF Northrop Grumman B-2A Spirit strategic bombers made a hot pit refueling at Ørland flystasjon near Brekstad (Norway). The two respective WM coded bombers, 82-1070 "Spirit of Ohio" and 88-0331 "Spirit of South Carolina", flew to the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) F-35A Lightning II base and carried out a hot pit refueling (without shutting down engines) before continuing their mission.
At this moment, three B-2A Spirits, normally assigned to Whiteman AFB (MO) are currently operating out of Naval Air Station Keflavik (Iceland) for Bomber Task Force (BTF) Europe 23-4. BTF's provide USAF aircrews the ability to forward posture strategic bombers within the European theatre in order to enable integration with NATO allies and partners.
Credit photo: USAF