Mine-clearing personnel at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, found an 1,100-pound Russian penetrating bomb containing 167 pounds of explosives about 200 feet from the base’s runway. Normally, an explosive ordnance disposal team would blow unexploded ordnance in place, but, in this case, its proximity to the runway presented a problem. EOD airmen dug a trench and built up a mound of dirt around the big bomb, then placed a C-4 high-explosives charge to blow it up. Officials say the weapon was left over from the Afghan-Soviet Union war of the 1980s.
Three B-1B Lancers from the 7th Bomb Wing flew over the Indo-Pacific alongside F-16s from the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force as part of a joint large force exercise. The mission began and ended in the continental U.S. The bombers flew 31 hours and landed Jan. 11.