The US Air Force has remained active over Europe but with a less aggressive approach than in the past, one that the Biden administration appears to have adopted in recent months.
The US frequently flies over Europe and the Pacific, but in recent years they have more often flown over sensitive regions such as the Barents Sea north of Russia, the Sea of Okhotsk off of Russia's Far East, and the Black Sea.
Russian officials have responded with aerial intercepts that the US deemed unsafe.
After the Trump years, the number of bombers that participated gradually increased, and they stayed longer and their operations started moving farther east and north, closer to Russian borders.
The trend continued to increase through last year, but this year has seen a different type of bomber operation.
The Royal Air Force's Fairford base, northwest of London, was the location of the B-52s arriving on February 10 to conduct a Bomber Task Force mission.
Their deployment is a regularly scheduled US European Command and US Strategic Command joint mission series.
In February, the bombers flew over the North Sea to train with aircraft from other militaries, flew to the Middle East to demonstrate their ability to operate across regions, and landed in the Czech Republic to practice quick-turn sortie regeneration.
In March, the bombers flew over Central Europe and countries bordering the Black Sea for close-air-support training with troops on the ground. They flew to the north to participate in the NATO-led Cold Response exercise in Norway and the NORAD-led exercise Noble Defender over Canada.
The commander of US Air Force Europe-Africa said in a March 4 release that the BTP rotation gives them a critical opportunity to integrate and train with their allies and partners.
The bombers haven't flown over the Baltic states. There are Russian strategic bases on the Kola Peninsula. They hadn't flown in along the northern coast of Russia, which is vulnerable to aerial penetration, and we haven't seen Black Sea operations.
There are obviously reasons for that, because of the war going on, but I think instead what we've seen are the bombers operating in sort of an overall more pulled-back training operation.
The mission series began in the year. The US has deployed its bombers to Europe and the Pacific for weeks at a time.
The head of the US Strategic Command, admiral Charles Richard, told the Senate armed services committee that the command conducted 127 BTF missions in the year 2021.
The US military's dynamic force employment construct and potential adversaries watch these missions closely, Richard wrote.
The military uses its forces to send strategic signals, reinforce deterrence, and support whole-of-government messaging under dynamic force employment.
In the early months of the Biden administration, there was a continuation of the style of BTF operations seen in previous years.
The difference was that when things started heating up in the east, Biden or the White House began to pay attention to the exercises.
According to a November report, the White House asked the Pentagon for details about its operations to deter Russia. A Biden administration official told The Washington Post that it sought full visibility into previous deterrence activities in Europe in order to inform future missions.
The White House National Security Council didn't respond when asked about the review. When asked if the current BTF mission had been affected by the fighting in Ukraine, the US Air Forces Europe-Africa didn't reply.
The Strategic Command said that there is no set number of annual BTF missions, and that dynamic force employment allows the Pentagon to maintain the readiness and flexibility of our forces so that we can rapidly respond to emergent requirements in support of US national-security objectives.
With heightened tensions in Europe and nuclear-armed militaries operating in close proximity, a judicious approach to such exercises was needed.
The US doesn't need to demonstrate support for NATO by taking it to the strategic nuclear level.
The US bomber fleet is still busy, but not as busy as it used to be.
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