A U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber joined Ukrainian fighter planes this week and five NATO intelligence planes in an exercise over the Black Sea this week.

The drill was part of NATO's summer Exercise Astral Knight 2o20.

On Wednesday a B-52, one of six which traveled from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Britain in August, flew over the Ukraine-Romania border near the Black Sea and made a mock attack run on Odessa, Russia, before turning toward Romania.

It was briefly joined by fighter planes of the Ukrainian Air Force, and then by five intelligence planes, gathered over the Black Sea, regarded as an international waterway, to monitor Russian air defenses as they went on alert.

The intelligence planes included RC-135Ws of the U.S. Navy and the Royal Air Force, a U.S. Air Force RC-135U, a U.S. Navy P-8 maritime patrol plane and an Raytheon Sentinel of the RAF.

Together, they spotted mobilized Russian land vehicles, noted air defense systems and listened in on Russian radio communications.

"Our team from @Team Minot has been busy!" the U.S. Strategic Command said on Wednesday in a Twitter message.

There was no comment, after the exercise, from the Russian Defense Ministry. Notably, the surveillance planes all broadcast their positions using radio transponders trackable on civilian websites.

The remaining B-52s flew missions over Eastern Europe at the same time. While the bombers used the term "HERO" in their callsigns, one, flying over Poland, used "LEMAY35."

It was an apparent tribute to former Strategic Air Command chief Gen. Curtis LeMay, who was instrumental inbuilding the SAC to a position of dominance in the 1950s and 1960s.

U.S. Air Force begins NATO policing mission in Bulgaria
Washington DC (UPI) Sep 28, 2020 - Six U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter planes joined Bulgarian aircraft in a four-week air policing mission over Bulgaria, NATO announced on Monday.

The F-16 Fighting Falcons of the 555th Fighter Squadron, 31st Fighter Wing, stationed at Aviano Air Base in Italy, were deployed to Graf Ignatievo Air Base, near Plovdiv, on Monday after completing the "Thracian Viper 20" international training exercise at the Bulgarian airbase.

"NATO air policing missions are designed to secure the airspace of allies. The air policing jets will take to the skies at short notice when military or civilian aircraft are in distress or they do not follow international flight regulations and approach the sovereign airspace of NATO allies," a NATO statement on Monday said.

Policing missions have been in place in Eastern Europe since 2004. Missions in southeastern Europe intensified in 2016, after Russia's 2014 intervention in Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea.

Six CF-18 fighter planes of the Royal Canadian Air Force are currently operating in neighboring Romania.

"In the fall of 2016, the Bulgarian Air Force conducted successfully for the first time a joint mission with their U.S. colleagues," a statement on Monday from the Bulgarian Defense Ministry said. "Participation in such joint missions enhances the Air Force capabilities to safeguard the integrity of allied airspace.

In 2017, Italian fighter planes were part of the mission in Bulgaria.

Bulgaria, a NATO member since 2004, is rapidly modernizing its military force. The air force began training with F-16 planes in 2019, after eight F-16s were purchased at a cost of $1.2 billion.

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