While Trump casts doubt on NATO policy, B-52s make first ever bomb drops over Lapland
This is the first time bombs have been dropped by United States strategic bombers, hitting targets in Rovajärvi firing range, a short 100 km from Finland's northern border with Russia.
The huge American bomber planes were escorted into the Arctic Circle by Finnish F/A-18 Hornet fighters on March 6, the same day as Donald Trump talked with his aides in Washington D.C. about a possible dramatic NATO policy shift.
According to ABC News, Trump said about European NATO allies: "If they don't pay, I'm not going to defend them. No, I'm not going to defend them."
Meanwhile, inside the Arctic Circle, two B-52 bombers were on a so-called "training mission." Such missions have taken place several times since last year, often reported about by the Barents Observer.
However, drop of live-firing bombs is not everyday procedures.
"B-52 bombers carried out air-to-ground drops now for the first time in Finland," the Air Force confirmed Thursday evening.
A video posted on Facebook by the Finnish Air Force, filmed from cockpit of a F/A-18, shows one of the B-52 releasing a guided JDAM bomb. Shortly after, a giant blast can be seen at a designated target in the taiga-forest within the Rovanjärvi firing range.
Located between the cities of Rovaniemi, Kemijärvi and Sodankylä in Lapland, the firing range is the largest military practice range in Western Europe. Distance to Russia's Murmansk and Karelia regions to the east is about 100 kilometers.
Finland's Armed Force had up front issued a public warning about the danger area to impacted by the bombs.
"Air-to-ground drops in Rovajärvi firing range demonstrate our capability to execute joint fire missions. The close bilateral cooperation between Finland and the United States increases Finland’s defence capability in concrete terms," said Brigadier General Aki Puustinen, Chief of Staff Air Force Command Finland.
"Joint operations with U.S. strategic bomber aircraft reinforce NATO’s collective defence and deterrence in the North," Puustinen added.
The Finnish-U.S. air force joint training i Lapland takes place simultaneously as hundreds of U.S Marines are on exercise with other NATO allies in northern Norway. The Joint Viking 2025 includes about 10,000 soldiers from seven nations.
