During the recent mission over the Black Sea, B-1B bomber aircraft of the U.S. Air Force went for the simulation of a missile strike. The planes simulated the deployment of new anti-ship missiles, The Aviationist reported.
"On June 1, 2020, the United States Air Force in Europe (USAFE) command released an official statement about the flight, saying that the B-1B mission’s focus was on the training on the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile capability and added that aircrews were able to train to unspecified new emerging threats", reads the story.
The new missile is actually a deep modification of the one currently in use by the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy.
According to Lieutenant Colonel, the U.S. Air Force Bomber Task Force planner, "the rise of near-peer competitors and increased tensions between NATO and our adversaries has brought anti-ship capability back to the forefront of the anti-surface warfare mission for bomber crews”.
The American bombers were escorted - in turn - by Polish, Romanian and Ukrainian fighters. On May 29, they appeared over Odesa region, then the Black Sea. But they left the area when Russian Air Force fighters took off to intercept them.
