--- title: "B-52s fly over Middle East in yet another display of force for Iran" description: "At least one B-52 assigned to the 5th Bomb Wing flew over the Middle East in an “observable” demonstration of military power." date: "2021-01-17" modified: "2021-01-18" authors: - name: "David Roza" job_title: "YouTube Writer/Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/david-roza/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/b-52s-fly-over-middle-east-iran/" categories: - "Air Force" - "Aircraft" - "Around the World" - "Bombers" - "Iran" - "Military Branches" - "News" - "Tech & Tactics" tags: - "central command" --- # B-52s fly over Middle East in yet another display of force for Iran ![On Dec. 8, Air Force warplanes, including B-52s, A-10s, and F-15s struck 75 ISIS targets across Syria.]() *On Dec. 8, Air Force warplanes, including B-52s, A-10s, and F-15s struck 75 ISIS targets across Syria. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Aaron Larue Guerrisky.* At least one B-52 assigned to the 5th Bomb Wing flew over the Middle East in an “observable” demonstration of military power, U.S. Central Command wrote in a press release on Sunday. The flight is the second of its kind this year, and the fifth in recent months, the Command wrote. Though the press release did not specify where the bombers took off from, previous B-52 flights over the Middle East on Dec. 30 and Dec. 10 took off from bases in North Dakota and Louisiana, respectively. The bomber that flew Sunday’s mission is assigned to the 5th Bomb Wing, which is based at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. The press release also did not specify how many B-52s took part in the mission, though several previous flights involved two bombers. Those previous flights took place in the middle of a build-up of force and tension in the region. On Dec. 21, Iran-backed militias launched rockets into an area housing the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, killing at least one civilian and damaging the embassy compound, [NPR reported](). The U.S. government had previously moved to [withdraw]() some staff from its Baghdad embassy as the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 3 killing of Iranian Maj Gen. Qasem Soleimani approaches, [The Washington Post]() reported. The new events also come a month after Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the senior Iranian scientist who founded the country’s military nuclear program [was reportedly killed by a remote-controlled machine gun](). Though the one-year anniversary of Soleimani’s killing has passed, the time for repeated U.S. bomber flights over the Middle East has not. “Short-term deployments of strategic assets are an important part of our defensive posture in the region,” said Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of CENTCOM. McKenzie added that the mission “delivers a clear and consistent message in the operational environment to both friends and potential adversaries, alike.” *Featured Image - A U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress assigned to the 5th Bomb Wing departs after receiving fuel from a KC-10 Extender assigned to the 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron during a Bomber Task Force (BTF) mission over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, Jan. 17, 2021 (Air Force photo / Senior Airman Aaron Larue Guerrisky)* ***Related: [30 years after Desert Storm, an Air Force general says we’ve forgotten the lessons that made it so successful]()*** ## Author David Roza writes scripts about military news for the Task & Purpose YouTube channel, and he also writes articles about military pay, benefits, health care, child care, culture, and other personnel topics on a freelance basis. Roza previously covered the Air Force and Space Force for Task & Purpose from 2019 to 2023 and for Air & Space Forces Magazine from 2023 to 2025. In the course of that reporting, he has set off a ‘Hollywood explosion’ with Air Force bomb techs, turned the (unarmed) keys of a nuclear missile bunker, hovered over the Nevada desert on an Air Force rescue helicopter, and got the best sleep of his life on the floor of a C-17 over the central Pacific. Share tips and story ideas with David at [david.roza@teamrecurrent.io]()