US nuclear B52 bomber crew land at RAF Fairford for a training deployment to Europe as Putin threatens nuclear war

A Boeing 747 landed at RAF Fairford on Tuesday carrying USAF B52 crew members as they flew from their base in Minot, North Dakota which is home to the fearful nuclear B52 bombers.

The B52 bombers are regularly stationed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, but as the country has taken a backward step from Russia the US are using RAF Fairford which is also home to the strategic nuclear aircraft.

According to US military sources movement of the B52s will be for pilots to allegedly train in the “European theatre and airspace” which will form part of the wider Bomber Task Force group in Eastern Europe.

The B-52H is the US Air Force’s (USAF) long-range, large-payload multi-role bomber and also known as the Stratofortress or the Buff (big ugly fat fellow).

The B52 is a long range strategic bomber and can carry out precise nuclear guided conventional weapons globally with precise navigation capability.

On Monday the Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a bone chilling warning that if he does not get his own way there could be a nuclear war in Europe.

Putin said that talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron were constructive and told a press conference that there will be a nuclear war if Ukraine joins NATO.

The Russian President said, “I want to stress it one more time. I’ve been saying it, but I’d very much want you to finally hear me, and to deliver it to your audience in print, TV and online.

“Do you understand it or not, that if Ukraine joins NATO and attempts to bring Crimea back by military means, the European countries will be automatically pulled into a war conflict with Russia?

“Of course the [military] potential of NATO and Russia are incomparable.

“We understand it. But we also understand that Russia is one of the leading nuclear states, and by some modern components it even outperforms many.

“There will be no winners, and you will be pulled into this conflict against your will.

“You won’t even have time to blink your eye when you execute Article 5 (collective defence of NATO members).”

The B52 the Stratofortress has a payload of 70,000lb and can carry nuclear weapons which includes 12 AGM-129 advanced cruise missiles of ACMS, 20 aGM-86A air launched cruise missiles.

U.S. Air Force Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, the commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa said he was “very comfortable that we…[can] operate with their joint terminal air controllers, their entities on the ground, from the Baltics down into the Med and even into Romania.”

He pointing out the “continued interaction with them that has allowed us to keep our close air support capabilities at the right level and continue to improve our readiness.”