R
AF Squadron Leader David Arthurton has made history as the first and only foreign exchange pilot to fly the B-2 bomber. He joined the 13th Bomb Squadron at Whiteman AFB, Mo., in September 2005 and currently has deployed with the unit to Andersen AFB, Guam. The former Tornado pilot says, “There’s nothing quite like [the B-2]. He thinks it’s “relatively easy to fly but difficult to employ,” and “you can’t throw it around the sky like the Tornado.” Arthurton joins another RAF pilot in a singular feat, Flight Lt. Dan Robinson has completed F-22 Raptor flight training.
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
