The US Air Force in an exercise earlier this year validated the Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concept with its B-52 Stratofortress bombers.

B-52s from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota in July took part in exercise Agile Warbird to demonstrate their ability to project and generate sustained airpower while deployed to forward operating bases.

The ACE concept, introduced in 2022, marks a shift from the traditional model of operating from large, centralized bases to a dispersed and flexible deployment strategy.

It shifts the focus of battle into multiple, smaller engagements and operations supported by multirole fighters and land-attack aircraft.

This approach aims to decentralize operational capabilities, complicating adversary planning and offering increased operational options for joint force commanders.

As part of Agile Warbird, the B-52s took part in drills at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas; Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington; and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, according to a Facebook post by Minot Air Force Base.

"Exercises like these sharpen our ability to mobilize quickly and ensure we can operate our bombers from anywhere at a moment's notice," it added.

ACE-enabled

The ultimate goal of the exercise was to enable the US Air Force to generate multiple strike missions each day, utilizing bases that may be temporary or established quickly in forward areas.

Exercises like Agile Warbird demonstrate this concept's effectiveness by showing that one B-52 bomber capable of carrying 20 GBU-31 907.2kg Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) could undertake two to four missions daily, striking up to 80 targets each day.

The drill is just one demonstration of the service's commitment to ACE and the resilience of the B-52 bomber.

Most recently, the US Air Force on November 2 announced that it had deployed B-52 bombers in the Middle East, the first time that the bombers have deployed to a base in the region since 2019.

The deployment of ACE-enabled B-52 operations offers a robust deterrence capability.

By dispersing B-52s across multiple locations, a four-aircraft squadron could potentially strike 160 targets a day for 90 days. This brisk tempo could, if needed, suppress hostile elements in a prolonged campaign.

The B-52 demonstrated its resilience in 2016-2017 when it was forward deployed to al-Udeid air base in Qatar to help fight the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) in the Middle East.

In that deployment, B-52s flew sorties over Iraq and Afghanistan, providing critical air support against ISIS and contributing significantly to the mission's success.

The B-52's reliability and extensive range made it a suitable platform for supporting sustained operations against ISIS, compensating for B-1 bombers that were increasingly stretched thin.