Flight Lt. Dan Robinson of the Royal Air Force has been fascinated with aircraft for a long, long time. “I was that kid who always wanted to talk to the pilot,” he said. Now, he can make a boast no other RAF pilot can match: He has completed flight training on a Fifth Generation fighter–the F-22 Raptor. Robinson, currently assigned to the 43rd Fighter Squadron as part of an exchange program had been undergoing two months in the training cycle at Tyndall AFB, Fla. He graduated this week.
The Air Force needs a high-end aircraft that can operate in contested environments that will work with the service’s new Collaborative Combat Aircraft semi-autonomous drones and other less pricey platforms, the service's officer said March 18. “Instead of going all high-end and then breaking the bank and not being able…