A trio of B-52H Stratofortresses and some 200 support personnel from Barksdale AFB in Louisiana are headed to Spain. From there, the iconic bombers will take part in dubbed “Cold Response.”

The nuclear-capable bombers’ presence forward deployed to Europe will also serve as yet another message to Russia that the U.S. intends to stand by its NATO allies. Although do participate in some international exercises in the region, they usually do not forward deploy to do so, instead they fly “out and back” global power missions from the U.S. or at the most they make short crew change, refueling and rearming stops at RAF Fairford in the UK before heading back to the United States.

The B-52 has only been able to carry smart weapons on its external pylons, with its internal…

One of these exercises took place just last May when off the Swedish coastline as a component of a larger war game. , coming and going from RAF Fairford over a Brief period of time.

The military exercise BALTOPS 2015 is in full swing off and on the coast of Sweden, with a…

The U.S. and other nations’ participation in Norway’s Cold Response exercise not only fosters better corporation among allies and improves readiness for potential joint combat operations, but it also shows Russia that NATO and other allies can fight to win in the frigid north. With Russia’s pivot towards the arctic and , NATO is catching up, countering this capability with their own.

Russia has big designs on the Arctic. Its forces have been very active in the inhospitable region…

Now it looks like the Pentagon is planning on , with a massive budgetary boost to do just that coming in the 2017.

The Baltic Sea, which southern Norway sits at the entrance of, is also becoming an increasingly tense region., and now even their potentially pose a threat to neighboring counties and both sides—NATO and allies versus Russia—, some of which could be classified as provocative. These actions match increasingly combative rhetoric.

The same air defense system that has seemingly kept coalition fighters out of western Syria is now…

With all this in mind, beyond training purposes the B-52’s inclusion in Cold Response is a symbol of the U.S. doubling down on its strategy to counter-balance Russia’s new and more aggressive military posture in the region.

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Photos via USAF