RAF Fairford burst into life in June when it became the temporary base of operations for two USAF Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirits and three Boeing B-52H Stratofortress bombers. This marked the first time both types had flown sorties from the base simultaneously. The first to arrive were the three B-52Hs on Wednesday, June 4 consisting of two aircraft from the 96th Bomb Squadron (BS)/2nd Bomb Wing (BW) at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana and a sole example from the 69th BS/5th BW at Minot AFB, North Dakota. On Sunday, June 8, the two B-2 Spirits from the 393rd BS/509th BW arrived. Initially, it was thought the B-52Hs would participate in two exercises, Saber Strike a US Army-led event in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) - a maritime exercise in the Baltic Sea. Prior to the deployment a patch designed to mark the Stratofortress crews involvement in both exercises appeared on the Internet. It showed the exercise names, silhouettes of B-52s, the squadrons taking part and the words 'RAF Fairford! However, during a media event at Fairford on June 10 USAF personnel said the B-52Hs were not involved in the exercises and the B-2s had never planned to take part.
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