A B-52H Stratofortress lands at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Jan. 30, 2024. (Alyssa Bankston/U.S. Air Force)

B-52 Stratofortress bombers arrived on Guam at the end of January, just days before the kickoff of the Air Force’s bilateral aerial exercise Cope North on Monday.

The Stratofortress bombers are assigned to the 5th Bomb Wing, Minot Air Force Base, N.D., the Air Force said in a news release Thursday.

Their deployment to Andersen Air Force Base is part of Pacific Air Forces’ ongoing Bomber Task Force missions, which project American military presence into the region to “influence and dissuade aggression from adversaries or competitors,” according to the release.

PACAF declined to say Thursday how many bombers were deployed, citing operational security.

A B-52 bomber takes off from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., Jan. 9, 2024. (Alyssa Bankston/U.S. Air Force)

While on Guam, the B-52 operations and support personnel are designated the 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, the news release said.

During Cope North, the B-52s will share Andersen’s airfield with planes from the Royal Australian Air Force and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.

B-52s deployed on Bomber Task Force missions from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., to Guam in October and April last year. They were also on Guam for Cope North in February 2022.

B-1 bombers deployed to Guam in June and October of 2022 on Bomber Task Force missions.

The Air Force seeks to keep the length and pace of Bomber Task Force missions to Guam and elsewhere unpredictable in the eyes of adversaries.