A B-52 Stratofortress bomber parks at Yokota Air Base, Japan, July 12, 2023. (Kelly Agee/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — A B-52H Stratofortress bomber ended its rare, eight-day stay Thursday at this airlift hub in western Tokyo with a thundering 7:30 a.m. departure.
The 1961-vintage bomber took off northbound after spending more than one week on the Yokota airfield’s east side, where transient aircraft usually park.
The B-52 was the first of its kind to stop at Yokota since 1989. The air base, also the headquarters for U.S. Forces Japan, was a U.S. bomber base from 1945 until the mid-1960s.
The aircraft, assigned to the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., diverted to Yokota on July 12 due to an in-flight maintenance issue. Pacific Air Forces spokesman Maj. Christopher Merian said no information was immediately available Thursday about the nature of the issue or whether it was fixed during the bomber’s sojourn in Japan.
B-52s from Minot and Barksdale Air Force Base, La., worked out of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, this month as part of the Air Force’s ongoing bomber task force missions intended to project U.S. air power in the region.
During the B52’s time at Yokota, aviation enthusiasts flocked to see, photograph and video the aging aircraft.
Twitter user @Mayumi33825876 recorded the aircraft’s departure and tweeted the video afterward with a message that included an emoji of a waving hand and a U.S. flag: “See you, B52 Stratofortress, I wonder if we’ll meet again while I’m alive …”
B-52s have been in service since 1955 and are expected to continue flying until 2025, according to an Air Force factsheet.
In September 2021, the Air Force awarded a $2.6 billion contract to Rolls-Royce to deliver 608 F130 engines to replace the aging TF33 engines on B-52s under the Commercial Engine Re-engineering Program, according to a Rolls-Royce Press release in September. The B-52’s original manufacturer, Boeing, will be responsible for integrating the engines into the aircraft.
In March 2023, Rolls-Royce tested two F130 engines at the NASA Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, according to a company news release in March.
