M.A.D.

U.S. to Send Nuke-Ready B-52 Bombers to Australia as China Tensions Build

The Pentagon could deploy up to six of the heavy bombers to the region.

The U.S. plans to send B-52 bombers to Australia in a joint military plan that is likely to raise tensions with China. As many as six of the long-range planes—which can carry both conventional and nuclear weapons—will be able to be accommodated at the Tindal air base in the north of Australia. Officials in Canberra attempted to play down the significance of the plans, which they said were still in the design phase. They added that American bomber aircraft have visited Australia since the 1980s and have been conducting training in the country since 2005. But sending as many as six B-52s would be a “significant enhancement to previous deployments and is likely to draw the attention of both regional allies and Beijing,” Eric Sayers of the American Enterprise Institute think-tank told the Financial Times.