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US Bombers Arrive In Europe As Russia Preps For Drills

US Bombers Arrive In Europe As Russia Preps For Drills
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Two US B-1 bombers and one B-52 Stratofortress arrived in the United Kingdom on Wednesday for an annual international war games event taking place at the same time as a Russian military exercise.

US Bombers Arrive In Europe As Russia Preps For Drills

The long-range B-1s, from the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, and the B-52, from the Air Force Reserve Command's 307th Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, landed at Royal Air Force Fairford in Gloucestershire.

They will conduct flyovers in Slovakia and Poland before taking part in the Ample Strike 2017 exercises hosted by the Czech Republic, according to US European Command.

More than 30 aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles from eight allied nations are expected to conduct live-fire drills from August 28 to September 9, according to NATO.

"The exercise will focus on advanced air and land integration training, as well as strengthening interoperability between NATO ally and partner nations," US European Command said in a statement.

Unofficially, the joint military display is meant to serve as a not-so-subtle show of force aimed at Russia, which is preparing to conduct large-scale drills in Belarus next month.

Of all the major exercises on the Russian military calendar, "Zapad," which is Russian for "West," causes the most excitement and concern because it is the one that most closely resembles practice for invading Russia's neighbors, according to Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow for the Russia and Eurasia program at Chatham House.

Held every four years, the exercise can even develop its own mythology: Much of the Western coverage said that the 2009 exercise ended with a simulated nuclear attack on Warsaw, Poland, even though there is no evidence at all from unclassified sources to suggest this was the case, Giles said.

Source: CNN, Edited by website team

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